Ever since the Jodie Foster movie, ‘Safe Room’ came out, millions of people around the world know how effective and protective a safe room can be. However, unlike the movie, the safe room you’re in doesn’t have to be so high-tech.
It just needs to be extra secure than a normal room. In fact, many preppers have fallout shelters and bunkers that serve as secondary locations should their homes be destroyed or compromised in a crisis.
One of the best guides on this topic is here. The guide has helped thousands of preppers to build their own bunkers to stay safe during a crisis. It’s much more difficult for intruders to break into a bunker.
Depending on where you live, building a safe room might or might not be an option. It’s best to hire a professional to build one for you. If you’re living or working in countries like Iraq, etc. the chances of danger to you are higher and a safe room will be a necessity. In fact, even offices and buildings in higher risk areas will have safe rooms for the staff to take refuge in.
Here are a few tips to be aware of when building a safe room.
Communication
The room MUST have at least 2 or 3 methods of communication with the outside world so that you can get help. Without it, you might end up stuck in the safe room without knowing if it’s safe to come out or not.
You should have a telephone (landline), mobile phone and a panic button that’s connected to a security agency that responds to these emergencies. If you’re in a situation where you need to take shelter in a safe room, you most probably need help from outside to clear the area and make it safe.
Food and water
The safe room should have sufficient food and water supplies to maintain the people inside for a couple of days.
First aid kit
Just in case someone is injured, the first aid kit will be crucial.
Survival First Aid Kit
Fire extinguishers
It’s best to have a couple of fire extinguishers which use dry powder to fight fire.
Sleeping bags and blankets
When you’re under stress, being able to take a short nap will re-energize you.
Flashlights and spare batteries
It would be a good idea to keep more than one flashlight in the bunker and having multiple sizes would be beneficial.
It would also be a good idea to use rechargeable batteries and have a means of recharging them.
Radio
You’ll need a radio to stay updated on what is going on outside and it can also serve as a form of entertainment.
Toilet
Depending on the size of your house, a safe room can be constructed with a connected toilet. This will make things easier if you need to use the toilet. If there’s not enough space, you’ll probably need to keep a portable toilet with disposable bags in the safe room.
These are some of the points to take note of. It’s also important that the security company that’s responding to your panic button activation knows exactly where your safe room is.
They’ll probably need to do a survey of your home and have a map of the exact location of your safe room after you’ve built one. This will allow them to be much more effective during a rescue.
To conclude, building a safe room is a fantastic idea and if your space and budget allows for it, you should build one. If you can’t do it in your own home, see if you can get a bunker built to achieve a similar solution.