Kamagaya Fire Service festival 2014

A local womens taiko drum group.

Annie and her kids awaiting our AED training.

Emi learns how to save a kid, baby and adult. As did I. Both of us work with children, so knowing how to do this is a good idea.

For adults, you need to give 100 chest compressions a minute and also three breaths ever 20-30 seconds. This is to ensure oxygen and blood getting to the brain. The hand positions change for each age level. Adults require both hands and deep thrusts. Children require one hand, while babies only need two fingers. When using the AED pads, you put one pad on the adults right shoulder and under the breastbone on their left. For children, if they have a small chest size, you place one pad over their heart, and one over the centre of their back, while placing them on their side. You listen for instructions from the AED machine. The instructions are written in English, but the audio is in Japanese as it is in Japan after all.

 The young firefighter who helped us. The whole lecture was in Japanese so with my wife helping, I was able to understand it.

Thank you to Kamagaya City Fire Service.

Assault vest kit or Emergency stuff

Last Friday, March 29, 2012 I cycled about 30 km round trip. I cycled down to one of my favourite shops Wild One, which is a Japanese outdoor and camping shop. It's choc a bloc full of everything you need for camping, fishing, hiking, canoeing etc. I also stopped at another outdoor shop named L-Breath. Their slogan is "feel the earth, open-air sports" I was able to pick up the following items.

An Espit hexa-block stove. My Dad used these when he was attached to 4th Battalion (TA) Royal Green Jackets back in the summer of 1974. I also picked up some Sporks made by a Swedish company. I also found a water proof match case which I have back in Canada, but didn't have here. As a back up, I also have included a lighter.

Slowly but surely I'm getting my emergency gear together.

My vest was a Christmas present back about 1986. It was made in Korea, which is where I ended up ten years later. The name tag I got from a Canadian military supply company which name I seem to have forgotten at the moment.

  

HAPPY YEAR OF THE DRAGON FROM JAPAN

While I'm writing this message, it's now January 2 here in Japan. Yesterday, my family did the Japanese traditional thing of eating Osechi, which is a soup made of chicken stock, thick rice cakes and then eating grilled fish or shrimp. I have a problem with living in Japan in that I don't like fish much!

Of another note, while we went out shopping to see all the bargains at a shopping mall in Chiba New Town, Japan was hit by another earthquake. This one was a level 7 according to the Japanese scale. It was 4 in our area but that really doesn't matter when you are inside a concrete structure. My kids and I had just settled down in a Starbucks to enjoy some coffees when it hit. I picked up the kids and got out, not an easy thing to do when loaded down with shopping bags and people lining up for their orders. Luckily it stopped and even luckier that there was no tsunami this time.

So the Year of the Dragon started off with a roar.