TIPS FOR EARTHQUAKE SAFETY BY DOUG COPP

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 info rmation 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 survi ved 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.

 

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 t heir 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.”