This article is talking about earthquakes but I though it may apply.
Subject: Fw: Aug. 26th - tips on earthquake survival
EXTRACT FROM DOUG COPP'S ARTICLE ON THE "TRIANGLE OF LIFE", Edited by Larry
Linn for MAA Safety Committee brief on 4/13/04.
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 (UNX051 -UNIENET) for two years. I have worked at every
major disaster in the world since 1985, except for simultaneous disasters.
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. The first building I ever crawled inside of was a
school in Mexico City during the 1985 earthquake. Every child was under
their 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.
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, and 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. They are everywhere. When I
was 11 years old, I was trapped inside of a collapsed building.
1) Everyone who simply "ducks and covers" WHEN BUILDINGS COLLAPSE is crushed
to death -- Every time, without exception. People who get under objects,
like desks or cars, are always crushed.
2) Cats, dogs and babies all naturally often 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. The reason is simple: the 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 while you are watching television 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) Everybody 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. They are 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
screaming, 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, says the author. 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.
For information on American Rescue Team International click on link below
http://www.amerrescue.org/cgi-bin/cgiwrap/amerrescue/sitesearch.cgi
This email was cleaned by emailStripper, available for free from
http://www.papercut.biz/emailStripper.htm
Subject: Fw: Aug. 26th - tips on earthquake survival
EXTRACT FROM DOUG COPP'S ARTICLE ON THE "TRIANGLE OF LIFE", Edited by Larry
Linn for MAA Safety Committee brief on 4/13/04.
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 (UNX051 -UNIENET) for two years. I have worked at every
major disaster in the world since 1985, except for simultaneous disasters.
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. The first building I ever crawled inside of was a
school in Mexico City during the 1985 earthquake. Every child was under
their 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.
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, and 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. They are everywhere. When I
was 11 years old, I was trapped inside of a collapsed building.
1) Everyone who simply "ducks and covers" WHEN BUILDINGS COLLAPSE is crushed
to death -- Every time, without exception. People who get under objects,
like desks or cars, are always crushed.
2) Cats, dogs and babies all naturally often 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. The reason is simple: the 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 while you are watching television 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) Everybody 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. They are 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
screaming, 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, says the author. 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.
For information on American Rescue Team International click on link below
http://www.amerrescue.org/cgi-bin/cgiwrap/amerrescue/sitesearch.cgi
This email was cleaned by emailStripper, available for free from
http://www.papercut.biz/emailStripper.htm
![[No title]](/data/xfmg/thumbnail/37/37605-90c8efaef5b7d1f52d4bf8e7dfd33673.jpg?1619738148)
![[No title]](/data/xfmg/thumbnail/39/39470-ad2036a502fde3b73f73e2b45e674866.jpg?1619739042)
![[No title]](/data/xfmg/thumbnail/37/37539-ae46a74e6510aad73c9101a029847880.jpg?1619738133)
![[No title]](/data/xfmg/thumbnail/42/42230-fa8ace50a80342c7d91db1431f911bab.jpg?1619740048)
