Safe Rooms: Your First Line of Defense

The rising number of home invasion robberies is alarming and indicates the growing boldness of rapists, burglars, and murderers. Most home invasions are forced entries, either with a strong shoulder or kick to the door. Before taking the time to secure all possible entrances to your home, it is critical that you first secure what is called a "safe room." Some refer to this as a "panic room," but there should not be panic in this room, but rather, the implementation of a well thought out and preplanned self-defense strategy to stay safe until help arrives.

In my, Defensive Living Manifesto, which is free to you on this blog, I stressed that the best defense is avoiding the conflict altogether. This is what a "safe room" is all about; a secure room in which a family can retreat and be safe until others arrive who are better able to restrain the intruder.

Here are some suggestions:

Pick a room that is quickly accessible to everyone in the family. In larger houses, safe rooms can be on both ends of a house or on different stories.

A land line will be more reliable because it will be a fixed item in the room in case you forget your cell phone. It is better to have a separate number not connected to any other phones in the house so that an intruder cannot pick up an extension and interfere with your 911 call. Also, do not have the phone wiring to the safe room observable. You don't want anyone cutting the phone line.

If you decide to forgo the land line, then buy a less expensive but reliable cell phone, add another phone number to your family plan, and always leave that cell phone on its charger in the safe room. No exceptions. Remember, a "safe room" gives you precious time to alert the authorities, but only if you have a way to communicate.

It is rumored that cell phone 911 calls are routed through the state police first and then passed on to more local authorities. You might want to check if that is true in your area. If it is, you might be better off to call your local police directly, rather than the 911 number on the cell phone. Most communities have a local emergency number. The local emergency phone numbers should be in plain view next to the phone in the safe room and programmed into the cell phone.

Be sure that whatever weapons you have are in that room, i.e. pepper spray, knife, revolver, baseball bat, cruise missile. They are of no value if not accessible.

Have a towel or some other material which you can wet and place on the floor against the door to prevent smoke, pepper spray or tear gas from entering.

The most important piece of equipment is the lock on the door. The room should have only one entry door. Either have a land line phone in that room, even if it is a bathroom, or be sure to have a cell phone in the room.

Now listen carefully, and I mean carefully. The ability of the lock to keep the intruder out is what gives you the critical time needed for the police to arrive. The normal lock on the door or even a dead bolt will not protect you. The normal dead bolt might help keep the "honest" honest. But your job is keeping the dishonest, not the honest from kicking in your door and having their way with your family! There is not a dead bolt or lock out there that I can't kick in or push my body through, except one that I found.

I have searched everywhere to find a lock that is designed to keep an intruder out. Click on this website to review the information on it. Check out particularly the videos to witness the strength of the lock. The residential lock withstands 4000 lbs of pressure in contrast to the standard dead blot which can withstand only about 200 lbs of pressure.

The key is to harness the full strength of the door frame instead of just the part of the frame that surrounds the standard dead bolt. Maybe you already found a lock that you believe is suitable. This is the only one I am convinced I can't kick my way through.

I do not at compromise at all when it comes to the quality of critical home security items, because when you are hunkered down in your safe room with your kids who are crying in fear because someone is trying to kick the door in, you will be willing to give up everything you own to keep that from happening.

Don't procrastinate. Either decide to secure your family or not. The world of delusion is the most dangerous world of all.

For Your Safety,

Dr. Martin Wooten