Fwd: Earthquake Safety - "Triangle of Life"

PLEASE READ, IT MAY SAVE YOUR 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 (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 practised 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 % 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 American 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, 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. I
> trained the Fire Department of Trujillo (population 750,000) in how
to
> survive, take care of their families, and to rescue others in
earthquakes.
>
> The chief of rescue in the Trujillo Fire Department is a professor at
> Trujillo University. He accompanied me everywhere. He gave personal
> testimony: "My name is Roberto Rosales. I am Chief of Rescue in
> Trujillo.When I was 11 years old, I was trapped inside of a
collapsed
> building. My entrapment occurred during the earthquake of 1972 that
> killed
> 70,000 people. I survived in the "triangle of life" that existed
next to
> my brother's motorcycle. My friends who got under the bed and under
desks
> were crushed to death [he gives more details, names, addresses
etc.]...I
> am
> the living example of the "triangle of life". My dead friends are
the
> example of "duck and cover".

TIPS DOUG COPP PROVIDES:

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 foetal
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 foetal 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 door jam 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.

I hope this useful information is never needed.









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