Serious Considerations When Building a Panic Room

A “fortified environment” is what it is known as. A safe haven or “safe room” buys you time in the event of brutal home invasion where people are tied up, raped and murdered. Like this one.  A safe room is also a layer of protection in the event of manmade or natural disasters.

Envision you are home and the home security alarm goes off because some drug crazed axe, knife and gun wielding bunch of lunatics smash down your door with the intent of doing very bad things to your family. This is when a fortified environment would help you survive.

Features of a safe room include:

Reinforced doors. These may be steal fire rated doors or ones lined with steel plate. The frames are also beefed up with door brace technology.

Reinforced walls, ceiling, floors. This can be anything from extra layers of plywood, sheet metal, steel plate, concrete or bullet resistant acrylic (plastic) or Lexan sheet.

Electronics. What safe room wouldn’t be complete without wireless internet and mobile communications?

Security systems. A monitored home security system complete with security cameras and back up batteries. All of which are in some way protected from intruders.

Self defense equipment. This can be anything from non-lethal to lethal.

Nourishment. You may be in your safe room for hours to days. Non perishable canned foods, and water is a must.

Gas masks. In the event your home invaders (or nuclear fallout) try to smoke you out, a gas mask is a nice touch.

Emergency first-aid kit. And assortment of bandages, ointments etc. Put some trash bags in there too. Trust me.

A simple enough strategy when installing a safe room in an existing home is to either install in your bedroom, basement or retrofit a walk-in closet.

Robert Siciliano personal and home security specialist toHome Security Source discussingADT Pulse on Fox News. Disclosures