Preparing people in the event of an earthquake

Getting ready: A person being rescued by Fire and Emergency Services personnel
during a mock drill in Mangalore on Saturday.
MANGALORE: It all started at 11.40 a.m. on Saturday with the menacing sound of a siren that seemed straight out of a World War II movie. Within seconds the gloomy environs of the Deputy Commissioner’s office became the centre of action. For the first few seconds after the siren went off, all the people present crouched for cover. After a minute they trooped out of their offices in single file with handkerchiefs covering their mouths and noses.Even before the people on the higher floors came down, the Fire and Emergency Services personnel charged into the building with ropes, ladders, axes, cylinders and hoses. Soon after people fit enough to make it on their own left the building, the “injured” were brought down. Some on stretchers were lowered to the ground from the balconies on the first and second floors with the help of ropes.

Foolproof system

The Fire and Emergency Services personnel displayed just how foolproof their system was. The look of relief was palpable on the faces of the “injured” as they were set down. Within minutes the first ambulances descended on the scene, sirens blaring. Paramedics from the Health Department and K.M.C Hospital took care of the injured. It soon came to light that it was actually a mock earthquake preparedness drill organised by the district Disaster Management Cell in association with the Fire Department, Home Guards and the Health Department. The exercise was completed in 40 minutes. Addressing the media after the event, Deputy Commissioner M. Maheshwar Rao expressed satisfaction over the manner in which the exercise was conducted. He said that similar exercises would be carried out in other high-rise buildings in the city in the next few weeks.

Chief Fire Officer of the district H.S Varadarajan, who coordinated the event, however, said that there was a lot more to be achieved.