On April 27 about 50 people took part in an earthquake-response drill at Palaceside Building. It began on the assumption the quake struck at night; after Mainichi Building Co. staff arrived, they confirmed the sequence for setting up an aid station and caring for the injured.
Mainichi Building Co. holds large fire drills on the roof in spring and autumn with tenants, and several times a year it also runs earthquake-response drills with its own staff and contracted security, facilities and cleaning crews.
This drill assumed a magnitude-6 earthquake at night. At first, security officers at the disaster-prevention center by the first-floor west entrance, facilities staff in the basement central monitoring room and other contracted personnel confirmed first responses: equipment checks and setting up a temporary command post.
Fifteen minutes later Mainichi Building Co. staff arrived, established the formal command post in the fifth-floor office and reviewed full disaster-response procedures.
In particular, a fire was assumed near the first-floor east smoking area, with a ceiling collapse and casualties; an “aid station” was set up beside the main entrance for rescue training＝(photo above).
For the aid station, stretchers, first-aid supplies, an AED, blue tarps, blankets, chairs, tables and folding cots were brought to the first-floor east from the fifth-floor office and the east and west warehouses on the second basement, and the six “injured” were interviewed on the severity of their injuries and contact details.
From 11:00 a.m. after the drill a review meeting listed missed reports, incomplete instructions, delayed responses and shortages of gear, and confirmed issues for the future.
Putting safety first, Mainichi Building Co. will continue to maintain facilities and, as in this drill, actually move through the manual so that when it counts the response is precise.