Multilingual Emergency Drill held at TUFS International Residence

May 16, 2019

On Saturday the 20th of April, TUFS collaborated with the Tokyo Fire Department Fuchu Fire Station and held its spring Emergency Drill at the TUFS International Residence. In addition to the usual notification drill, fire drill and AED training, this spring’s drill also included a smoke simulation.

Over 130 students participated in this drill, with majority of participants being new spring entrants, and in addition to learning the evacuation route, also learnt how to call the 119 emergency number, how to use the fire extinguishers and how to handle the AEDs. During the drill, student tutors residing in the International Residences supported students who have recently come to Japan by giving supplementary explanations of the firemen’s talks in English and other languages.

In the 119 calling drill, students used a telephone receiver to call the firemen, and learnt how to say “fire” when asked “fire or ambulance?” in Japanese. Students also learnt the keyword “English Please!” that can be used to get hold of an English-speaking operator, and practiced their Japanese language skills by acting out a simulated scenario in which they had to call for an ambulance for an unconscious friend.

Staff from TUFS aimed to improve the students’ awareness of disasters by handing out the Tokyo Fire Department’s multilingual pamphlets on disaster procedures, and stockpile food for emergencies.