A body lying there. Pinned under a desk, unable to move…
Do not worry (not that anyone was worrying): it is the New Year’s first-drill rescue training of the Palaceside Building self-defense fire brigade, a January fixture.
On the morning of the 5th, three to four degrees colder than the day before, it was held on the roof. About 50 people took part from Mainichi Building Co., which manages the building, and partner firms Globeship (facilities), Aing and Mai-ei Security (security), and Seibi (cleaning). They worked with serious faces, unbowed by the cold.
After remarks by self-defense fire chief Toshiro Hara (Mainichi Building Co. president), training began with initial extinguishing by fire extinguisher, assuming a fire. Using water-filled training gear they blasted a red cone standing in for the fire. In the indoor-hydrant hose drill that followed they pulled the hose from its red case, gripped the nozzle and dashed at the source, punching a round target marked “fire” cleanly with water (photo at right).
The rescue, first-aid and emergency-care drill that followed reenacted the sequence of freeing someone trapped under furniture.
Answering a call for help, self-defense firefighters ran up with a full rescue kit, pried the desk aside with a bar and freed the person (photo above left), carried them between two people to the aid station (photo above right), used an AED for CPR there (photo below left), and loaded them on a stretcher (photo below right) — finishing without waste.
This year, too, we will keep training toward a safe, secure building.