Hell in a hand basket!

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The weirdest thing happened to me as I entered my building for work today. The security folks handed me a Disaster Preparedness Guidebook!!!

Now I know we are coming up on a sensitive anniversary, but isn't that a little paranoid? It even has a section called: "In case of building collapse"

 

What on earth were you supposed to do in the case of a building collapse? I cant help but think that it is too late for most things then...

 

Heh a bit exaggerated indeed, but I guess you can never be too careful. Though I can hardly imagine how much good a leaflet like that will do when a building actually collapses.

 

Yeah - it doesn't give much on building collapses...Here's the short paragraph:

"Call 911 as soon as possible. Get uninjured persons out of the area and turn off all utilities that you can safely reach. Evacuation should be done as orderly as possible and without disturbing any loose material or debris. If you are trapped inside a building, remain calm, render aid to injured persons and await rescue personnel."

 

We have a catch-22 for the people in charge -- if they do something, it's too much and they're paranoid. If it's not enough, they were fools for not having enough foresight to see something so obvious.

That said, if the building goes down, all you can do is hope to hell that you can get under something that might maybe create a survivable space.

 

3 words dude: Duck and Cover.

 

The problem is, most people's first reflex in such a situation is to get the HELL out of there, and fast. I was the leader of the local Emergency Response Team during the 2002 earthquake in Seattle - we were in Portland at the time and still felt it. The first action in an earthquake is to do exactly as you suggest, LKD, but instead the entire building populace decided to evacualte. There was nothing the ERT could do to stop them, so we settled for making the process as orderly as possible.

I've done Emergency Preparedness and Risk Assessment work, and you'd be surprised at just how specific you have to be regarding actions in accident scenarios. People panic and forget how to think. It's better, in the long run, to do a little something to make people aware of potential accidents and how to respond than to do nothing at all.

My office overlooks Independence Hall in Philadelphia. If Al Qaeda keeps going for symbolic targets instead of economic ones, there's a real possibility that I could see something much closer than the evening news.

 

@Death Rabbit, that's the best advice i've heard in a long time.

even if the ceiling dosen't crush your skull, you're likely to get trampled by everyone trying to hit the exits.

@Rallymama, i hope those fanatics stay as far from you as possible. any thoughts of changing your workplace?

 

Thanks, Greenlion, but I'm stuck here for the foreseeable future. Maybe we'll get bought soon by one of our clients - that would shorten my commute drastically, as well as getting me out of Center City.

 

Rallymamma -- I was IN that earthquake in Seattle in 2001 and working at AT&T Wireless at the time. The Emergency Management office stood guard at the exits and would not let people out of the building, which was swaying like a tower of jello. The floor looked like rolling ocean swells. I hid under my cube, but I can tell you if I could have knocked down those emergency personnel to get out of that damned building I would have. Taking my chances outside with flying debris is much preferrable to being a sitting duck, waiting for piles of concrete to bury me alive. And if the situation presents itself again, I'll be the first person out the door.

 

When in trouble,
When in doubt,
Run in circles,
Scream and shout!



[Not funny. ] -Tal

[ September 11, 2003, 21:48: Message edited by: Taluntain ]

 

In tall buildings, usually elevator shafts and the staircases have a structure of their own, so (if lucky) the building will collapse around these constructs. Although without knowing the place you're in, you wouldn't be able to tell for sure if this is so.

But as Rallymama correctly said it, panic will always arise during disasters and your actions will most likely be more affected by instinct, than by reason.

Spellbound, well the whole point of anti-earthquake structures is to have the walls wiggle like jello, isn't it? Though I can understand the instinct of wanting to get the hell out, even if it's not safer. However, often one thing is what you percieve in such a place, another is what you know of the conditions. I'm sure the emergency personnel had good reason to not let people out, else it does sound very odd indeed.
(have to give credit to rescue teams and emergency personnel as I spent 6 months like one, lol )

 

It's funny how with animals, they say in times of trouble (and earthquakes)....let them seek their own hiding place....they know best what to do...it's instinct. Heh...that theory seems to be forsaken when it comes to humans. Rule 3 under Paragraph 10 of some emergency manual demands that I stay put, even though my instinct says get out. Guess they don't trust our human instincts too much. But I DO and I want to be able to exercise my right to seek shelter where I wish.

Nothing against emergency management offices---they're providing a service that they think is best for society as a whole, according to some criteria. Perhaps the supposed earthquake-proof building IS the safest, perhaps not. But it's my choice to make.

Btw... we've had 46 small quakes in the last 3 weeks in Seattle (3.1 and under)...I'll be ready and the poor guy who stands at the exit will look like those swinging cardboard figures that flop up and down.