On October 3rd 2015 (Saturday), the Kochi City Disaster Prevention Drills were conducted at University of Kochi and Kochi Health Sciences Center (Ike area). The aim of these disaster prevention drills is to provide the members of University of Kochi and Kochi Health Sciences Center the appropriate information, in case of a major Nankai Trough earthquake in Kochi, and to enable all disaster-prevention-related public institutions to practice cooperating each other and learning what they need for emergency.

In this time, I participated the integrated disaster prevention drills as a disaster victim from foreign country (Indonesia). In the scenario case, I can not speak Japanese, only in English and Bahasa Indonesia. I was diagnosed the Hemopneumothorax dextra, my chest wall on the right side was punctured and bleed, and I also felt the left chest pain, so hard to breath. However, I was given a green triage tag. And, they practiced giving first-aid treatment to the injured.



At the drills venue, participants had a strong sense of awareness of how to deal with possible disaster situations. There was a drills exhibition, riding out an earthquake on the earthquake simulator.



My impression:
Because I can not speak Japanese and the Japanese medical team members can not speak English very well, so it makes a “kotoba no kabe” (language barrier), misperceptions and misunderstanding. I think that the local hospital can conduct a training to develop community interpreter volunteers who will aid in bridging communication between foreigners and the Japanese medical team members. Nobody is able to expect when a major disaster will occur, so it is always better to prepare in advance.

written by the 1st Grade DNGL Student University of Kochi: Hastoro Dwinantoaji