The Triangle of Life

[Uncle Joe]

I recieved this e-mail and thought I would share it.

"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. 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 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.

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 continuosly bump into each other until structural
failure of the stairs takes place. The people who get on stairs before they
fil. are chopped up by the stair treads - horribly mutilated. Even if the
building doesn't collapse stay 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 porbability that your escape route will be blocked.l

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!

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.

[ret5hd]

1. So what do you do when you have survived the disaster...

and the rescue teams are recalled before they find you?

[Uncle Joe]

2. Keep your faith; they will not be recalled before they find you.

I imagine that's what kept some of the Haitians alive a week to ten days after the quake.

Edit for P.S. This is about what you can control, not what you can't.