A deadly fire in Luchou City, Taipei County, occurred less than 36 hours after the Wanan No. 26 emergency drills were held. Ironically, after watching the perfect drills on TV the day before, the viewers were immediately drawn back to reality by the shocking footage of the blaze.
The fire this time was not caused by new problems. There were neither terrorists nor biochemical weapons, and the fire broke out in an ordinary narrow alley packed with dozens of motorcycles. No surprise, many illegally-built structures blocked the passages of the building, iron bars on windows prevented escape and some escape ropes had been removed after previous safety checks. These things are seen almost every where. Why have these problems never been resolved? Is this the fate of the Taiwanese?
I participated in several emergency drills when I was studying Disaster Medicine in the US. The purpose of such drills was to find problems, which is also the most important step in solving them. An exercise is considered a complete failure if no flaw is discovered. As a result, a large number of people from different professions are usually invited to make criticisms during the drills, in order to check the emergency process and to discover possible areas for improvement. Some drills last for a whole day, because problems may occur some time after the operations begin.
I have been a drill evaluator before, but could hardly accept the US' kind of drill. By Taiwanese standards, the US drills were too chaotic -- everything appeared unrehearsed and some participants even argued with one another. When I watched CNN's live coverage of disasters, how-ever, although there was still chaos and arguments, they were less serious than those during the emergency drills. This showed the value of the US-style drills.
In Taiwan, unfortunately, drills have become a form of drama, aimed at presenting a perfectly run show to government leaders and the media. In terms of drill preparation, the most important part is perhaps whether an exercise is exciting enough, how to show off the functions of newly-purchased equipment and how to create a tense atmosphere. As for the loopholes in disaster handling and technical difficulties, drill organizers make them disappear by changing the plot.
Everything is way too perfect. A drill always ends with some officials' lectures and praise. What flaws are there in the drill? No one knows. Who knows that the height of firefighting ladders is limited and the water can hardly reach higher? Who knows that it takes time to conduct such exercises if rescuers wear protective suits and even more time to set up emergency tents on the spot? Who knows that all the locations or buildings where drills take place are specially selected? Who knows that it takes complex procedures to gather those emergency units in real life?
Since everything is perfect in the drills across the nation, no wonder the reality is miserable!
A drill usually incurs considerable social costs. During the Wanan No. 26 drills, many people were trapped on the roads or forced to delay appointments. But none of us complained, because we had to carry out exercises to find out and solve problems.
Drill organizers have the responsibility to present the real look of an emergency, as much as possible, in order to make society understand the reality of disaster- prevention work. Government authorities have the responsibility to discover problems and resolve them. They do not have to solve all problems at once. But at least each drill should be better than the previous one.
We are willing to cooperate without complaint or regret if such drills can help those in charge find problems. If not, then perhaps it's helpful for them to make personal inspections at the front line. After all, the problems that exist are, for the most part, decades old. Who says that the performance of airborne-rescue work should always be included in the Wanan drills?
If those in charge view such drills as a show and not a chance to discover errors and flaws in the system, they might as well hire Hollywood directors and stars to produce disaster-prevention videos -- they would do a much better job. Not only would such videos be highly entertaining, but they will have a greater effect on educating and influencing people compared to the illusory drills we have now.
Frank Shih is an attending physician in the emergency department at the National Taiwan University Hospital.
TRANSLATED BY EDDY CHANG
George Santayana wrote: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” This article will help readers avoid repeating mistakes by examining four examples from the civil war between the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) forces and the Republic of China (ROC) forces that involved two city sieges and two island invasions. The city sieges compared are Changchun (May to October 1948) and Beiping (November 1948 to January 1949, renamed Beijing after its capture), and attempts to invade Kinmen (October 1949) and Hainan (April 1950). Comparing and contrasting these examples, we can learn how Taiwan may prevent a war with
A recent trio of opinion articles in this newspaper reflects the growing anxiety surrounding Washington’s reported request for Taiwan to shift up to 50 percent of its semiconductor production abroad — a process likely to take 10 years, even under the most serious and coordinated effort. Simon H. Tang (湯先鈍) issued a sharp warning (“US trade threatens silicon shield,” Oct. 4, page 8), calling the move a threat to Taiwan’s “silicon shield,” which he argues deters aggression by making Taiwan indispensable. On the same day, Hsiao Hsi-huei (蕭錫惠) (“Responding to US semiconductor policy shift,” Oct. 4, page 8) focused on
Taiwan is rapidly accelerating toward becoming a “super-aged society” — moving at one of the fastest rates globally — with the proportion of elderly people in the population sharply rising. While the demographic shift of “fewer births than deaths” is no longer an anomaly, the nation’s legal framework and social customs appear stuck in the last century. Without adjustments, incidents like last month’s viral kicking incident on the Taipei MRT involving a 73-year-old woman would continue to proliferate, sowing seeds of generational distrust and conflict. The Senior Citizens Welfare Act (老人福利法), originally enacted in 1980 and revised multiple times, positions older
Nvidia Corp’s plan to build its new headquarters at the Beitou Shilin Science Park’s T17 and T18 plots has stalled over a land rights dispute, prompting the Taipei City Government to propose the T12 plot as an alternative. The city government has also increased pressure on Shin Kong Life Insurance Co, which holds the development rights for the T17 and T18 plots. The proposal is the latest by the city government over the past few months — and part of an ongoing negotiation strategy between the two sides. Whether Shin Kong Life Insurance backs down might be the key factor
RSS