Earthquake and Disaster Preparedness Month Duck and cover drill prepares utility employees for the real thing. May 14, 2001
On April 25, 2001 at 10.30 a.m. the Department of Public Utilities conducted a systemwide “duck and cover drill” to prepare utility employees to survive a major earthquake event, and then to be available for an effective emergency response action to operate and restore damaged ultility infrastructure. All department personnel and visitors participated. Outlying facilities and field personnel were linked up to the exercise by radio communications. “Overall,” said Eric Johnson, Safety Program Specialist, “the exercise was successful as a training tool which sharpened employee awareness to the importance of taking cover and reporting their location and status to their supervisors.” A touch of realism was made possible with the Salt Lake City Fire Department personnel preparing Public Utilities employees with realistic mock injuries. No one was spared from the exercise. Visiting consultants joined with Public Utilities employees in ducking under the conference room table during the alert. Afterwards, the exercise was critiqued and recommendations were made for improvements. Being involved in an earthquake emergency is not that far fetched. Just recently, the Pacific Northwest was jolted by a major earthquake. According to an article in the May 2001 Opflow, published by the American Water Works Association, Seattle, Washington is situated in an active earthquake zone. On February 28, 2001 Seattle was struck with a 6.8 magnitude earthquake. In the article, Brian Tarbuck describes the sensation of going through the real thing. “The floor and walls in my office are made of concrete. Yet, the 8-inch walls were visibly moving, which made no sense to me. ‘Nothing,’ I thought, ‘can move that much concrete! Concrete doesn’t bend!’ It wasn’t something my mind could easily comprehend. Something else I realized, as I looked out the window from where I crouched under my desk, was that men outside…were wobbling.” Despite his disbelief in the force of the quake, he believes in protecting one self in a seismic event. “Diving under your desk is not an act of cowardice…it just might save your limbs and life during an actual emergency,” says Tarbuck.
The recent Seattle earthquake and Salt Lake City preparedness activities are reminders that we live in an active earthquake zone along the Wasatch Front. The potential of experiencing an earthquake is real. It is recognized that knowing how to protect utility employees and their families are important to the utilities' ability to adequately respond to the aftermath of an earthquake event. The experience gained from duck and cover drills raises awareness that hopefully will prepare utility employees to deal with the effects of a major seismic event, both at home and on the job.
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