NEW Earthquake Survival Tip!
We've been doing it all wrong...
Folks,
please SHARE, SHARE, SHARE this with your loved
ones:
Where
to Go During an Earthquake
Remember
that stuff about hiding under a table or standing in a
doorway? Well, forget it! This is a real eye opener. It
could save your life someday.
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, and 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 obscene -- unnecessary.
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 - NOT under 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 building
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 bed, 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
t
he 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!
'We
are but angels with one wing, it takes two to
fly'
In 1996
we made a film, which proved my survival methodology to
be
correct.
The Turkish Federal Government, City of Istanbul,
University of Istanbul Case Productions and ARTI
cooperated to film this practical,
scientific
test. We collapsed a school and a home with 20
mannequins
inside.
Ten mannequins did 'duck and cover,' and ten mannequins
I used in my 'triangle of life' survival method. After
the simulated earthquake collapse
we
crawled through the rubble and entered the building to
film and
document
the results. The film, in which I practiced my survival
techniques under directly observable, scientific
conditions , relevant to building collapse, showed there
would have been zero percent survival for those doing
duck
and
cover.
There
would likely have been 100 percent survivability for
people using my method of the 'triangle of life.' This film
has been seen by millions of
viewers
on television in Turkey and the rest of Europe, and it
was seen in
the USA ,
Canada and Latin America on the TV program Real
TV.
American
Rescue Team International(ARTI) is said to be
the World's most
experienced rescue team and disaster management-mitigation
organization.
TRIANGLE OF LIFE