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 mem ber 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 obscene, unnecessary and I wondered why the children were not in the aisles. I didn't at the time know that the children were told to hide under something. I am amazed that even today schools are still using the ?Duck and Cover? instructions - telling the children to squat under their desks with their heads bowed and covered with their hands. This was the technique used in the Mexico City school.
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) Almost 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. That position helps you survive in a smaller void. Get next to a n 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. Concrete slab buildings are the most dangerous during an earthquake.
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 ha ppens 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) Almost 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 collapse d 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 lying in the fetal position next to their vehicles. Everyone killed would have survived if they had been able to get out of their cars and sit or lie n ext 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! ;
I read an article from the Women’s Wellness Today Magazine, published by Dr. Susan Lark. I want to share some of it with you.
If your memory’s not what it used to be, then you’ll be interested in hearing about a recent university study. The study found that you could improve your memory by chewing gum.
Researches took 75 adult and gave them a 20-minute battery of memory test. One-third of the participants chewed gum during the test. Another third took the test without chewing. And the remaining third were simply asked to mimic chewing movements with nothing on their mouth.
The result the gum-chewers score were 24 percent higher on immediate word re-call, and 36% higher on delayed word re-call. Whatever the reason, you may want to consider chewing gum the next time for your memory.
And if you want to chewing gum. Please avoid chewing gum loaded with sugar and gum that is sweetened with chemical like aspartame or sucralose.
Choose a brand that is sweetened with xylito. It is safe and doesn’t raise your blood sugar, and study show is good for your teeth and gums. It sound good; let’s try it.
Bible is the word of God, is a food of the soul. I always enjoy reading my Bible. Proverbs is one of my favorites; I read this everyday to help my day going.
Proverbs is the book of wisdom, instructions, how to live right, how to deal life’s issues, how to relate with your children’s, how to be a good parents.
This chapter is good for the teenager to read, also for the parents to read to their children’s. Bible is the only good book to read, not only for adults also for all ages.
Hurrah, it’s another pleasant day. This is the third day we’ve had a good, bright and sunny, encouraging day.
So, I decided to clean and wash the car to enjoy this weather, and at the same time, to finish one of my chores. And while I was doing the car I also thought, “What’s for lunch.”
I’ll give you more later. Have a nice day all of you.
I walked today along the beach, a beautiful day to get some exercise. All of a sudden this question occurred to me: How do I describe life?
Immediately these things came to my mind: I was born, then went to school, became a teenager, had some friends, finished school. Some people went to college, fell in love, got married, became a mother, grandmother, got old, and then died. This is so depressing isn’t it?
When I get home, I asked my dear hubby how he describes life. He said right away, “Well, if you accept Mr. Life you’re in good hands.” He sustains and redeems us. Life is all about Jesus.
