We are not discovering America by writing that we live in turbulent times. However, this phrase has been repeated over the centuries by successive generations of people who recall with nostalgia the years of their youth and who view the dynamic world with increasing uncertainty. Every generation has its catastrophes, our grandparents the war, our parents the political transformation, the generation of the current 30-year-olds first the pandemic that turned our world upside down and now the war in Ukraine. All this has meant that in recent years we have seen a growing interest not only in measures to protect property, but also in personal protection, in physically securing ourselves against external threats.
What features does a panic room need to have?
You may remember a pretty good film starring Jodie Foster and Kristen Stewart entitled. "Asylum". It tells the story of a mother and daughter who take refuge from burglars in the eponymous asylum, a room secured on all sides. Leaving aside the storyline, which has its own rights, the film shows exactly what a real panic room is – a separate place in a house or directly connected to it, where, in the event of an attack, one can take refuge and safely wait for security or the police to arrive. Such a room should have several key features:
– it must be in a place that is not obvious to an outsider unfamiliar with the topography of the building, kept secret from all but the householder,
– it must be readily accessible to the owner, so that a person at risk can lock himself in there within a few seconds or so of discovering an intrusion,
– it must be protected by a door with a high burglary protection level, so that an unsuspecting intruder will not be able to get inside,
– it must have ventilation, a separate independent source of water, food, essential medicines, power, internet access or some other form of communication from outside the building.
Check out, too: 5 questions before building a safe and vault room
What does a panic room look like?
A panic room can take different forms, depending on the conditions of the building. Its most important element is certainly the door, which will form a line of defence against an attacker. The panic room door can be very different from the classic vault door. Sometimes such doors take the form of a hatch with a diameter of one metre, placed in the floor. However, these are rare cases, the placement of this type of entrance to the shelter is a complication that will cost a few priceless seconds in the event of an emergency. What is present in every panic room door, however, is the ability to close from the inside in one swift movement. This is achieved by means of a so-called panic handle, the setting of which in the appropriate position activates an additional locking mechanism. It is worth noting that such a handle, in turn, makes it impossible to lock someone inside the vault against their will.
However, doors are not everything. Embedding even the most secure door in a flimsy and easily penetrable wall does not guarantee safety. It is therefore advisable to plan the installation of a secure room at the building design stage. On the other hand, if the building itself is already standing and there is no possibility of intervening in its layout, the solution is a modular room consisting of prefabricated panels assembled on site, including the door and necessary installations. Such a room can be extended and modified as necessary.
However, doors are not everything. Embedding even the most secure door in a flimsy and easily penetrable wall does not guarantee safety. It is therefore advisable to plan the installation of a secure room at the building design stage. On the other hand, if the building itself is already standing and there is no possibility of intervening in its layout, the solution is a modular room consisting of prefabricated panels assembled on site, including the door and necessary installations. Such a room can be extended and modified as necessary.
Protecting life and health are paramount
Securing property is a natural reflex and it is our mission to serve you with our knowledge and experience. The same is true when you are concerned about your immediate, physical safety. There are ways you can feel safe. We produce vaults and armoured doors equipped with panic functions for just this purpose. Follow this link for details, call or write us, we will talk and answer all your questions.
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