Earth, Water, Wind, Fire.

Stimulation

During this part of our study abroad trip to Japan, our instructor took us to a fire department station where there were multiple stimulations. There were three stimulations: a typhoon, a fire, and an earthquake. I’ll be talking about and describing my experiences with each one on this blog.

Earthquake Stimulation

This exercise dealt with what to do in the event of an earthquake. What’s odd is that will in Japan we did really go through an earthquake a few days prior to this. We were told to position ourselves in a fetal position—with our hands covering our skulls in an upright position—during this stimulation in order to avoid damage. They advise doing this while hiding beneath a desk. It was also a learning moment for me because I had always understood that we should only cover our necks and not our heads. In case a structure collapses, they also advise leaving the earthquake zone as soon as it stops shaking.

Fire Stimulation

This stimulus was provided by smoke, not by fire. It was merely a smoke machine producing actual smoke. In order to prevent collisions and maintain some level of spatial awareness during this stimulation, we were instructed to crouch as low as possible, close our hands in a flat fist, cover our mouth and nose with the pit closest to our elbow, and drag the enclosed hand across the wall as we walked. While the person in the back was to close the door when they walked in, the one in the front was to lead and find the luminous exit signs. In a system like this, everybody was going down if someone halted. Everyone had a role to play in maintaining harmony. We all had to sort of keep an eye out for one another because if we moved too quickly, the person closing the back door would get left behind. I didn’t know what to do in case of a fire previously, but this stimulation educated me.

Typhoon Stimulation

With the first image being only rain and the second image being only wind, this picture depicts us experiencing a typhoon stimulation. For protection against the rain, we were outfitted with a thick coat, a face mask, rain boots, and other waterproof gear. Then, if we were wearing contact lenses, we were told to remove them or look down to prevent getting water on our faces. We were instructed to grip onto the bars tightly while the downpour of rain poured down onto us from all sides, simulating a typhoon. This was perhaps my favorite stimulus because it felt so real. Even though the wind was fierce, it wasn’t as awful as the water, as you can see in the second image, which solely depicts the wind. Typhoons have the peculiarity that, more often than not, both will occur simultaneously which would have made it more harder than we had experienced it. I’m happy we were able to have such an amazing experience and gain so much knowledge.