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earthquake safety
Got this in my email and thought it was interesting...
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EXTRACT FROM DOUG COPP'S ARTICLE ON THE: 'TRIANGLE OF LIFE'
My
name is Doug Copp. I am the Rescue Chief and Disaster Manager of the
American Rescue Team International (ARTI), the world's most experienced
rescue team. The information in this article will save lives in an earthquake.
I
have crawled inside 875 collapsed buildings, worked with rescue teams
from 60 countries, founded rescue teams in several countries, and I am
a member of many rescue teams from many countries.
I was the
United Nations expert in Disaster Mitigation for two years. I have
worked at every major disaster in the world since 1985, except for
simultaneous disasters.
The first building I ever crawled inside of was a school in Mexico City during the 1985 earthquake.
Every child was under its desk. Every child was crushed to the
thickness of their bones. They could have survived by lying down next
to their desks in the aisles. It was unnecessary and I wondered why the
children were not in the aisles. I didn't know at the time, that the
children were told to hide under something.
Simply stated,
when buildings collapse, the weight of the ceilings falling upon the
objects or furniture inside crushes these objects, leaving a space or
void next to them. This space is what I call the 'triangle of life'.
The larger the object, the stronger, the less it will compact. The less
the object compacts, the larger the void, the greater the probability
that the person who is using this void for safety will not be injured.
The next time you watch collapsed buildings, on television, count the
'triangles' you see formed. They are everywhere. It is the most common
shape, you will see, in a collapsed building.
TIPS FOR EARTHQUAKE SAFETY
1)
Most everyone who simply 'ducks and covers' WHEN BUILDINGS COLLAPSE are
crushed to death. People who get under objects, like desks or cars, are
crushed.
2) Cats, dogs and babies often naturally curl up in the fetal position. You should too in an earthquake.
It is a natural safety/survival instinct. You can survive in a smaller
void. Get next to an object, next to a sofa, next to a large bulky
object that will compress slightly but leave a void next to it.
3) Wooden buildings are the safest type of construction to be in during an earthquake. Wood is flexible and moves with the force of the earthquake.
If the wooden building does collapse, large survival voids are created.
Also, the wooden building has less concentrated, crushing weight. Brick
buildings will break into individual bricks. Bricks will cause many
injuries but less squashed bodies than concrete slabs.
4) If you are in bed during the night and an earthquake
occurs, simply roll off the bed. A safe void will exist around the bed.
Hotels can achieve a much greater survival rate in earthquakes, simply
by posting a sign on the back of the door of every room telling
occupants to lie down on the floor, next to the bottom of the bed
during an earthquake.
5) If an earthquake
happens and you cannot easily escape by getting out the door or window,
then lie down and curl up in the fetal position next to a sofa, or
large chair.
6) Most everyone who gets under a doorway when
buildings collapse is killed. How? If you stand under a doorway and the
doorjamb falls forward or backward you will be crushed by the ceiling
above. If the door jam falls sideways you will be cut in half by the
doorway. In either case, you will be killed!
7) Never go to
the stairs . The stairs have a different 'moment of frequency' (they
swing separately from the main part of the building). The stairs and
remainder of the building continuously bump into each other until
structural failure of the stairs takes place. The people who get on
stairs before they fail are chopped up by the stair treads - horribly
mutilated. Even if the building doesn't collapse, stay away from the
stairs. The stairs are a likely part of the building to be damaged.
Even if the stairs are not collapsed by the earthquake,
they may collapse later when overloaded by fleeing people. They should
always be checked for safety, even when the rest of the building is not
damaged.
8) Get Near the Outer Walls Of Buildings Or Outside Of Them If
Possible - It is much better to be near the outside of the building
rather than the interior. The farther inside you are from the outside
perimeter of the building the greater the probability that your escape
route will be blocked.
9) People inside of their vehicles are crushed when the road above falls in an earthquake
and crushes their vehicles; which is exactly what happened with the
slabs between the decks of the Nimitz Freeway. The victims of the San
Francisco earthquake all stayed inside of
their vehicles. They were all killed. They could have easily survived
by getting out and sitting or lying next to their vehicles. Everyone
killed would have survived if they had been able to get out of their
cars and sit or lie next to them. All the crushed cars had voids 3
feet high next to them, except for the cars that had columns fall
directly across them.
10) I discovered, while crawling
inside of collapsed newspaper offices and other offices with a lot of
paper, that paper does not compact. Large voids are found surrounding
stacks of paper.
Spread the word and save someone's life... The Entire world is experiencing natural calamities so be prepared!
After 2 rounds of IVF & 2 rounds of FET, we were blessed with identical twin girls!
Re: earthquake safety
my sister sent this to me awhile back - frightening (if it's true) since all we've ever learned as kids is to duck under desks or stand in a doorway.
Kim: Cute siggy pic!!
They sent this to us at work and I've forwarded the email... I agree with ssinca if this is true this is really scary for schoolchildren.
I thought that they were trying to revamp their earthquake safety rules in all public schools in CA.?
Snopes.com:
http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/household/triangle.asp
Um, yeah. There are several pieces of information in the assertation that are misleading.
Ahhh... good to know! I normally don't pass on forwards, but this came from a friend and she made it sound like she checked to make sure it was legit.
Oops!
After 2 rounds of IVF & 2 rounds of FET, we were blessed with identical twin girls!
Do you gals have earthquake kits ready? I never did because I've always been of the mindset that if there's a BIG one - chances are I won't even have time to grab it- but lately I've been thinking maybe I should put one together for H, the cats, and me.
:-/
Nope, not since the Whittier earthquake when it was all the rage. (I just totally dated myself with that one.)
After 2 rounds of IVF & 2 rounds of FET, we were blessed with identical twin girls!
I do, but I think the food is all expired. I went to big lots to stock up and I think most of their stuff is nearly expired. oops.
I'll let the renters deal with it.
I hear ya - you need it to clean any wounds and whatnot.