Duck, Cover & Hold for many years is the basis of California readiness and reaction. A recent dispute related to its effectiveness as people received e-mails The Life Triangle from Doug Kopp, a self-proclaimed rescue expert without official training in the field of search and rescue in cities.
He suggests in California that we should no longer subside and hide under the furniture, but rather sit next to him. For schools, he suggests that children should lie in the aisles, and not under tables made of solid wood or steel legs with wooden tops. He bases this idea on the “Triangle of Life” theory, which is based on the emptiness created when a building collapses and lands on furniture. The oblique effect creates voids where people can survive. The theory is correct. But by not taking cover, one is extremely vulnerable and exposed to all other debris and building elements that can easily curse a survivor or seriously injure their neck, head and / or back. Not to mention the biggest danger, Glass. An explosion of glass in the room may slip into the drywall. Why do you want to be so exposed. As a professional fireman, I can’t say how many times my polycarbonate helmet made me suffer a lot. To be under any furniture would be a great protection.
The idea that everything will be crushed is unrealistic with Californian construction or the United States in this regard. We do not build reinforced concrete buildings. We use lightweight construction, such as wood. He uses examples of buildings in third world countries. In countries such as Turkey, Pakistan and China, they suffer from losses of between 5,000 and 30,000 people from earthquakes with values between 5.3 and 7.2. In California, our Loma Prieta earthquakes in California and Northridge at So. There are only 63 and 57 deaths in California. Our construction standards speak for themselves.
I personally was in collapsed structures in California. The furniture has never been crushed. Instead, we find the ceiling structure lying on top of the whole home environment. Remember that the entire load will not rely on one piece of furniture. The load will be distributed between many parts, therefore sharing the load across the room or building.
I'm even more interested in the number of school teachers who, as a result of this erroneous email, Triangle of Life begin to place their (our) children in class aisles. Assuming that the lack of coverage in the classroom during an earthquake is an advantage over Duck, Cover & Holding under furniture is absolutely irresponsible and dangerous. The greatest risk in the classroom is not the risk of building destruction, but heavy fixtures that have a real chance of getting down and seriously injuring them when they lie in the aisles.
Take advantage of any coverage that you have, and remember that you cannot overcome an earthquake. Duck, Cover & Hold will save lives.
