Dormitory Heroics
Hi again all, said I'd have another blog post up within a day, reckon there's even one more in the works! And today I've been at a cool park at the opposite end of my train line to Shibuya, so I reckon there's some more material in that too, it never ends!
So on Saturday morning when I woke up, I had no idea that I'd be asked to operate a fire extinguisher, run through a smoke filled room, or help give CPR. Before you start thinking what a hero I am, I must confess that it was as part of a fire and earthquake drill that we had. At 9.50 the intercom rang out saying that there was to be a fire drill, and we were to stay in our rooms. At first I thought this somewhat odd, as surely the idea is to get out of the building in a fire, but at 10.00 the intercom rang out again saying the drill had started and we were to make our way down the stairs to the carpark at the front of the lodge. This was the first fire drill I'd experienced where no alarms or klaxons sounded, which was both good and bad I suppose (for my ears and immersion, respectively).
Once outside, we were told to have a go using the fire extinguishers, after a brief instruction in them. Rather than being filled with foam, they were dummy ones that used pressurized water, and we were asked to hit targets.
After that, we were taken to a yellow tent/gazebo like structure, which was apparently filled with smoke. At being told to cover our mouths and run through it, we were somewhat hesitant, as we were wondering whether they actually had filled the place with smoke. Resigning myself to smelling of ash, I pulled my hood up and took in a deep breath, before running into a wall of mist. They had set up some sort of vaporiser to give the impression of smoke, without the carbon monoxide factor (always appreciated!). Furthermore, they'd actually put some scent in the vapour, meaning it had a rather nice smell to it, so I lingered in the tent for a while, treating it as some form of tonic for the respiratory system!
The next thing on the preparation menu was the earthquake simulator. Rather than being like the earthquake house in Te Papa Museum in Wellington, this took the form of a big truck you could climb some stairs into, and take your place in a small room set up. By twisting a knob on a control panel near the front of the truck, the room would start to move, as if in an earthquake, with varying degrees of intensity. Victor and myself, along with 2 others went into it, and Victor asked for a 7.0 magnitude, exactly as in this video. Unlike most situations though, the table was fixed to the floor, meaning it kept banging into my shoulder as I took refuge under it, rather than moving with me, so my left shoulder is currently all number of yellows, blues and purples with the bruising it dealt me!
We then moved inside, for a demonstration of how to call 119 (Japanese version of 111/911). This made for some thrilling (read -not very-) acting from some people, all the while Victor and I were eyeing up the CPR dummy.
Then came the fun part, at least because there were (for native English speakers at least), a whole lot of Office related jokes (seriously, watch this video). There was a defibrillator in use, speaking both Japanese and English, making the whole thing quite the experience! All through this though was one of the members of staff giving instructions to the other (junior) member of staff, through a mega phone, despite the fact he was standing right next to him. There was a quadruple amputee being furiously resuscitated, but all I could think of was how unnecessary the megaphoning was! Anyways, I had a go at chest presses myself, if only to make an Office reference myself (albeit without skinning the dummy's face)
After that, we wrapped up and I prepared to head out, where I was going to be meeting an old classmate from my Tsurumine days, something that will form the basis of the next blog post!
In the meantime, if you're needing emergency assistance, you know who to call (not me, I'll likely be cracking jokes from that scene instead)
Troy :D
So on Saturday morning when I woke up, I had no idea that I'd be asked to operate a fire extinguisher, run through a smoke filled room, or help give CPR. Before you start thinking what a hero I am, I must confess that it was as part of a fire and earthquake drill that we had. At 9.50 the intercom rang out saying that there was to be a fire drill, and we were to stay in our rooms. At first I thought this somewhat odd, as surely the idea is to get out of the building in a fire, but at 10.00 the intercom rang out again saying the drill had started and we were to make our way down the stairs to the carpark at the front of the lodge. This was the first fire drill I'd experienced where no alarms or klaxons sounded, which was both good and bad I suppose (for my ears and immersion, respectively).
Once outside, we were told to have a go using the fire extinguishers, after a brief instruction in them. Rather than being filled with foam, they were dummy ones that used pressurized water, and we were asked to hit targets.
 |
| I'll be joining the volunteer firefighters in no time |
 |
| Don't worry Mum, in a real fire I won't be so cheery |
The next thing on the preparation menu was the earthquake simulator. Rather than being like the earthquake house in Te Papa Museum in Wellington, this took the form of a big truck you could climb some stairs into, and take your place in a small room set up. By twisting a knob on a control panel near the front of the truck, the room would start to move, as if in an earthquake, with varying degrees of intensity. Victor and myself, along with 2 others went into it, and Victor asked for a 7.0 magnitude, exactly as in this video. Unlike most situations though, the table was fixed to the floor, meaning it kept banging into my shoulder as I took refuge under it, rather than moving with me, so my left shoulder is currently all number of yellows, blues and purples with the bruising it dealt me!
We then moved inside, for a demonstration of how to call 119 (Japanese version of 111/911). This made for some thrilling (read -not very-) acting from some people, all the while Victor and I were eyeing up the CPR dummy.
 |
| Learning what we covered as 6 year olds at school |
Then came the fun part, at least because there were (for native English speakers at least), a whole lot of Office related jokes (seriously, watch this video). There was a defibrillator in use, speaking both Japanese and English, making the whole thing quite the experience! All through this though was one of the members of staff giving instructions to the other (junior) member of staff, through a mega phone, despite the fact he was standing right next to him. There was a quadruple amputee being furiously resuscitated, but all I could think of was how unnecessary the megaphoning was! Anyways, I had a go at chest presses myself, if only to make an Office reference myself (albeit without skinning the dummy's face)
 |
| Ah, ah, ah, ah, staying alive, staying alive! |
After that, we wrapped up and I prepared to head out, where I was going to be meeting an old classmate from my Tsurumine days, something that will form the basis of the next blog post!
In the meantime, if you're needing emergency assistance, you know who to call (not me, I'll likely be cracking jokes from that scene instead)
Troy :D
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