Where to Go During an Earthquake

Remember that stuff about hiding under a table or standing in a doorway? Well, forget it! This is a real eye opener. It could save your life someday.

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 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 for two years, and 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.

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 – NOT under 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 building 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 bed, 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 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. 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.’ 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 American Cancer Society Relay for Life of Yorba Linda is scheduled for August 5 @ 3 pm to August 6, 3 pm at the Yorba Linda Middle School, 4777 Casa Loma Ave.
The Relay for Life is a life changing event which brings people together to celebrate the lives of those who have battled cancer, remember loved ones lost and empower individuals and communities to fight back against a disease that takes too much.

As a community, we have been extraordinary in our support of this event. Please consider forming a team, joining an existing team or donating to the cause.
To learn more about how you can help, please go to: www.relayforlife.org/yorbalindaca

The following pictures are from the Yorba Linda Relay for Life Kick Off Dinner, held at the Nixon Library on March 3, 2011.

Dear Councilwoman Horton,

I do not usually write a letter endorsing the candidacy of a single candidate for the Yorba Linda City Council, however, this year I feel compelled to do so and this letter is written for that purpose.

I have observed you “in action” over the last 4 years and have been encouraged by your growth as the people’s advocate and representative on the Council. You, far more than any of your opponents on the Council, try to do things with an attitude of “What is the best I can do for the City and its residents,” and you consistently have made unbiased, objective and informed decisions. The council majority could learn much by following your example. The present majority seems to have adopted an attitude of taking care of their own political needs first ahead of the City’s and resident’s needs.

I, like many voters, received a political ”hit piece” last week as the absentee ballots appeared in our mail boxes. The timing was obviously deliberate since it allowed you no time to respond to any of the spurious charges, untruths, distortions, exagerations, etc. In my view, this negative “hit piece” was clearly worse than anything used in any prior City Council Elections.

So where is the present Council majority taking us?

We all wonder at the succession of City managers driven out of Yorba Linda by their actions, by the loss of all of our Senior Department Heads during their tenure, the continual wasting of money on pointless studies so as to avoid making a decision and then filing it on the shelf and doing nothing.

For all of the above reasons, you are the one candidate that I have the pleasure to endorse for re-election to the Yorba Linda City Council on November 2, 2010.

Respectfully,

Hank Wedaa

COYOTE UPDATE

Thanks to everyone who attended the “Java with Jan” this past Friday to discuss the coyote problems we are experiencing in our community. We were honored to have Orange County Animal Control representatives attend to give our residents an opportunity to ask questions and learn preventative techniques when dealing with the coyotes. I want to thank Stephanie Waterman, the Chief of Field Services and Katie, the Community Education Supervisor for attending and giving us practical advice.

Key Points:

o This is a county-wide problem. The Wildlife, Fish and Game agency has now become involved to devise an aggressive plan to help with this situation.
o There are community volunteer programs being developed in south county that will be beneficial for our community to investigate.
o We cannot leave small animals unattended in areas that they are vulnerable, including our backyards.
o Coyotes can scale 8 foot fences.
o Coyotes work in packs. If you see one on the trail and they run past you, they may be attempting to bait your dog to run after them so the rest of the pack will close in and attack. Keep your dog on a leash and keep them close to you if you see a coyote
o Coyotes will harm large dogs and other animals if they are hungry.
o Deterrents:
• whistle,
• can filled with pennies, marbles ,…that make loud noises,
• air horns
• Two blocks of wood, if smacked together sounds like a gun shot
• If you bring a whistle, carry it on a lanyard around your neck so you do not drop it. You never want to get into a crouched position around a pack of coyotes. Once you are on all fours, you are now more vulnerable to be attacked yourself.
• If the coyote continues to approach, DO NOT RUN or turn your back on the coyote. Continue to exaggerate the above gestures while maintaining eye contact and moving toward an area of human activity
o Gas Company employees are told to carry umbrellas with them so if confronted they can open and close the umbrellas to startle and scare the coyotes away.
o Pepper spray does not work the same on animals as it does on humans, may not be effective.
o Someone asked about wasp spray. This does permanent damage to the coyotes eyesight. A blind coyote will attack anything around it, making it much more dangerous.
o An internet source suggested carrying a super soaker filled with vinegar.
o One resident uses a stun gun, not the type with the darts. The snap of the gun when activated, scares other dogs and coyotes away.
o There are products on the market that can help secure your yard.
• Break Away fencing can be installed on the top of wrought iron fences to keep coyotes out
• Roller fencing
• At home depot, they sell a product that contains cougar urine. This is advertised to keep coyotes out of the area.
o Keep yard areas clear of large brush to eliminate coyote hiding places. Through Animal Control, there are Explorer Scouts available to help senior citizens to clear their yards
o Do not leave food sources within easy reach- garbage cans, dog/cat food.

After searching the internet, I found this website that has many additional hints on living with the coyotes and minimizing their impacts on our lives. The site also references sound track deterrents that are available. One of our residents has purchased this CD and her experience has been positive thus far. It is an intermittent sound of lion hissing. For more information on this and other tips, go to: http://www.cpngov.com/safety/docs/2009/coyote_deterrents.pdf

The 2010 Girls Scout 98th Birthday and Pat Nixon Birthday celebration was held at the Richard Nixon Library today in Yorba Linda! The theme of this years event was: Girl Scouts Go Green: Celebrating 98 years of Girl scouting and the Hope of a Greener Future.

In honor of Pat Nixon’s Birthday, wreaths were laid on her  grave site  and that of President Richard Nixon by the Yorba Linda Girl Scout Color Guard. The ceremony was a dignified tribute to the First Lady.

“Going Green” booths were scattered throughout the library grounds and the girls were given hands-on opportunities to learn about conservation, organic farming, recycling, alternative green cleaning products that are better for our environment, etc while earning badges. A fun day for all!

Many of the pictures in this report are courtesy of Amanda Smith, a young lady I met at this event. She is quite the photographer! Thanks Amanda!

Everyone is invited to a “Birthday Party” in the East Room of the Nixon Library on Saturday, March 27^th, 2010 from 10:30 AM until Noon.   Refreshments will be served and information regarding the Yorba Linda Relay for Life, scheduled for August 13^th and 14^th will be discussed.  The overall Chairs for this year’s Relay are Alice Gorman and Gerry Stacy, both are St. Martin’s Parishioners.  The Library is offering ½ price admission to anyone attending our event..  The Library will remain open until 5PM.

We need everyone’s support in the Cancer Battle and if you’ve ever known anyone who has had cancer, this is your opportunity to do something.  The American Cancer Society provides services to cancer patients on a daily basis, information to the public, research dollars to support better diagnostics and treatment.  Please help us make this the best Relay to date.  Stand up and participate in this year’s RELAY.    Questions? Call (714) 970-5057.

El Dorado high School competed in the Winter Drumline Competition held at Yorba Linda High School a few weeks ago. Despite very tough competition, El Dorado placed first in their classification. Go Hawks!
Here are some pictures of this event: