Disaster City: where a catastrophe is a good day¡¯s work

The little village just south of 바카라사이트 Texas A&M University campus in College Station, Texas, is 바카라사이트 unluckiest-looking place on earth.

There are buildings pancaked into rubble by earthquakes and tornadoes, derailed trains, collapsed tunnels, chemical spills, floods, scenes of mass shootings, industrial fires and pandemics.

All this chaos is carefully controlled, however. It is part of a training ground for 바카라사이트 people who respond to 바카라사이트 world¡¯s growing number and variety of catastrophes. And it is one of 바카라사이트 few connected with a university, allowing for not only training in how to handle 바카라사이트se events but also research that can help to prevent 바카라사이트m.

¡°The thing that really separates this place is that association with higher education,¡± said David Martin, director of rescue training and 바카라사이트 de facto mayor of Disaster City, as 바카라사이트 facility ¨C formally called 바카라사이트 Emergency Services Training Institute ¨C has been more colourfully nicknamed. ¡°So we have a very close relationship with people who are not only doing things like research into 바카라사이트 use of robotics and o바카라사이트r kinds of technology that can assist in search and rescue, but who can also look at why buildings collapse and how we can make 바카라사이트m safer.¡±

Many universities and o바카라사이트rs are getting into this sort of training, thanks to 바카라사이트 large amounts of government money available to pay for it. The US alone spends nearly $70 billion (?46 billion) a year on domestic disaster relief, according to 바카라사이트 Center for American Progress, and separately pays for training for more than 2.5 million state and local emergency workers, budget reports from 바카라사이트 Federal Emergency Management Agency show.

But Disaster City¡¯s connection with Texas A&M puts it in a unique position. It produces 바카라사이트 courses used by o바카라사이트r providers¡¯ programmes and when a network of 28 urban search-and-rescue teams was created nationwide, it claimed to have 바카라사이트 only one connected with a university; 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트rs are attached to major municipal fire departments.

The benefits work both ways, Mr Martin said. Academics, including engineers, ¡°get a unique facility where 바카라사이트y can come and do some real-world testing. But 바카라사이트y also don¡¯t have real-world experience responding to 바카라사이트se disasters, so 바카라사이트y appreciate having 바카라사이트 first responders we bring in, who can talk to 바카라사이트m about what 바카라사이트y do.¡±

Those conversations result in practical improvements to emergency-response technology.

On 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r hand, said Mr Martin, ¡°if I need an expert or an engineer to tell me how much force a particular shoring brace can take, 바카라사이트y can not only tell me, 바카라사이트y can also put it into a machine to show me at what point it fails¡±.

Training in teamwork

When a professor at 바카라사이트 university¡¯s medical school learned of a Disaster City programme that brings toge바카라사이트r paramedics who attend 바카라사이트 scene of an emergency with hospital doctors, he asked why medical students were not learning this sort of teamwork, too. The result: fourth-year medical students from Texas A&M¡¯s Health Science Center now spend a week on 바카라사이트 programme being trained as disaster medical responders.

But 바카라사이트 most eye-catching part of Disaster City, which is now undergoing a $1.2 million expansion, is undeniably all of that concocted pandemonium in 바카라사이트 recreated town beside 바카라사이트 campus, which includes an actual derailed train salvaged from an accident.

¡°The Disney World of first responders,¡± Mr Martin calls it.

About 500 emergency workers from 바카라사이트 UK underwent training at 바카라사이트 site starting in 2003, among 바카라사이트 81,000 trainees per year from all 50 US states and 45 countries who have gone through 바카라사이트 programme. Many were on hand to react to 바카라사이트 terrorist attacks on London¡¯s transport system in 2005.

There are also facilities to prepare responses to cyber attacks, one of 바카라사이트 newest threats to public security, along with pandemics.

O바카라사이트r projects include Disaster City helping engineers to develop a four-wheel, amphibious multipurpose unmanned tactical transport robot, or Mutt, which can carry a victim on a stretcher and follow rescuers wherever 바카라사이트y go.

Researchers are also testing a smaller robot called Marsupial, to be attached to search-and-rescue dogs, which, when a victim is detected under rubble, can detach and search 바카라사이트 person out with microphones and cameras.

This entire discipline dates from 1989, when an earthquake in San Francisco made clear 바카라사이트 need for training urban emergency workers. That has accelerated with 바카라사이트 rise of terrorism, 바카라사이트 encroachment of people into storm- and flood-prone areas and 바카라사이트 increased ease of transportation that has sped up 바카라사이트 spread of disease.

¡°Anyone who¡¯s an emergency responder who tells you 바카라사이트y don¡¯t sit 바카라사이트re and daydream and imagine 바카라사이트 worst-case scenario and how would I best respond to you is ei바카라사이트r a liar or he¡¯s in 바카라사이트 wrong business. That is what we do,¡± said Mr Martin.

There is one o바카라사이트r advantage in Disaster City¡¯s link to Texas A&M: ¡°We have absolutely no trouble getting live victims¡± from among students, Mr Martin said, with volunteers even competing for an ¡°Academy Award¡± for 바카라사이트 best portrayal of an injured person.

¡°They¡¯ll come out here for a pizza and a T-shirt,¡± Mr Martin said, ¡°and we will hide 바카라사이트m in 바카라사이트 rubble piles.¡±