We went to watch the Nishinomiya City Comprehensive Disaster Prevention Drill held at Koshienhama on Tuesday, November 5.
Lots of companies were taking part, and we got to try all kinds of hands-on activities at their booths.
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Experiencing Earthquake Damage in VR
We tried “Experiencing Earthquake Damage in VR” at the National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Resilience.
When you bring your eyes close to the box, a room appears in front of you, and when you turn your head left and right, it feels like you can look around the whole room. The furniture was shaking from the earthquake. Since your body itself doesn’t shake, it feels kind of strange…
I felt like I might get a little motion sick, so I think it’s best to watch while staying still instead of moving your face from side to side.
Recording and Playing Back a Message on the 171 Disaster Emergency Message Dial
We got to actually try the disaster emergency message dial.
I called 171 and recorded, “This is Niko. I’m okay. I’m at Koshienhama 3-chome. Please contact me.”
But I had no idea how loud it would be when played back,
so I didn’t have the courage to press the play button.
Fire Extinguisher Experience
At the Nishinomiya Citizens’ Mutual Aid Cooperative booth, we got to try using a fire extinguisher.
Listening seriously to the instructions.
Pull out the yellow pin, remove the hose, and hold the nozzle.
Squeeze the lever firmly and spray!!
Air came out with incredible force!!（Since this was a training experience, it was set up to release air）
I had never used a fire extinguisher before, so it was a really good experience.
AED Experience
This was also my first time using an AED.
The device gives instructions automatically, so I listened carefully and waited for the next step.
Chest compressions.
When you’re doing the compressions correctly, the button on the side lights up, but unless you really put your body weight into it, the button doesn’t light up at all.
I was so bad at it that everyone was laughing lol
We were doing it on top of a platform, so I wasn’t tall enough and it was hard to put my weight into it～
Keeping this up for several minutes would be tough!
So, we switched players.
Mama, who had done it before, was really good, and the button kept lighting up.
Debris Flow Simulation Experiment
At the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism’s Rokko Sabo Office booth, they created heavy rain to generate a debris flow,
and demonstrated what happens when there is a sabo dam～（I couldn’t help saying it like the 551 commercial）
and when there isn’t one～.
When there is no sabo dam
rocks, soil, and driftwood rushed down with incredible force, and the town was covered by the debris flow in an instant.
This is the experiment showing what happens when there is a sabo dam.
Although sediment and driftwood still flowed down, they moved much more slowly, keeping the damage to a minimum.
It was a simulation that made the function and importance of sabo dams very easy to understand.
A little boy who was watching the experiment with us asked, “Did you collect all these pretty stones?” It was so cute!
If you’d like to learn more, take a look at “How Sabo Dams Work” on the Rokko SABO website.
In Closing
The Nishinomiya City Comprehensive Disaster Prevention Drill offered so many hands-on experiences. It was fun, educational, and full of useful things to learn, and I felt grateful that they held such a large-scale disaster prevention drill.
Many organizations were participating in the drill, and there were lots of people involved, but it felt like there weren’t many general visitors watching. Since it’s such a valuable drill, I hope more and more people will take part.
