Introduction

Panic rooms are more commonly known as safe or sanctuary rooms and the concept has arisen in response to the increased risk of kidnapping, criminal and terrorist attacks on high profile or wealthy individuals and their families. Typically the intent of a safe room is to provide short term protection for the occupants until help arrives or the attackers leave the scene.

They can range from simple rooms with reinforced doors to elaborate fortresses that protect their occupants against biological and nuclear attack, hurricanes and home invasions.

Construction

A panic room at its most basic level is a box with an opening. So all six sides of the box walls, ceiling and floor must be fortified. To protect against simple physical attack an existing room can be used and reinforced with marine ply and expamet sheets. In order to provide both physical and ballistic protection we use a modular prefabricated walling panel known as Metrowall. All grades of Metrowall panels and doors have been tested and certified to EN 11431, EN1522-1. The European standard EN 1143-1 covers attacks from a variety of cutting tools, including hammers, chisels, crowbars, high-powered disk cutters, oxy-acetylene and the arc-air cutting torch depending on the security grade. Testing is based on a points system, which is included in the EN standard documentation.

Ballistic protection is provided upto BR6 level

Class	Type of weapon	Calibre	Bullet Type	Bullet Mass	Test Range	Bullet Velocity	Comparison
FB5(s)	Rifle	5.56x45*	FJ2)/ PB/ SCP1	4,0 ±0,1	10 ±0,5	950 ±10	Equiv. R1
FB6(s)	Rifle	5.56x45*	FJ2)/ PB/ SCP1	4,0 ±0,1	10 ±0,5	950 ±10
FB6(s)	Rifle (see note)	7.62x51*	FJ1)/ PB/ SC	9,5 ±0,1	10 ±0,5	950 ±10	Equiv. R2

The entrance door is the one weak point of the fortified box. The PDP door is constructed from the same materials as the wall structure and secured by four point locking giving significant protection against forced entry. The door features keyless entry which can be linked to a number of access control systems included biometric devices.

Panic Room Features

Communication
This is achieved through a buried phone line which allows communication to the outside world as well as a direct alarm link to police or security teams.

Surveillance
The room comes equipped with a single monitor connected to a number of hidden cameras to allow the occupants to monitor intruders. These cameras can be infra red or heat sensing if required.

Power
Most panic rooms are powered by self contained generators within the room. Battery powered lighting can be a more cost effective solution.

Air Circulation
The most elaborate and expensive panic rooms are air tight, temperature and humidity controlled chambers and include separate air filtration systems that protect from biohazards. As standard our panic rooms include fresh air systems complete with dummy vents to throw off invaders and air conditioning. Oxygen and gas masks are also available.

Supplies
Depending on specific requirements the rooms are equipped with fresh water and food rations as well as chemical toilet facilities and first aid equipment

Weapons
We do not provide firearms as part of our service but can include pepper spray and high voltage stun devices should an intruder make it into the room.

Conclusions

There are a number of ways to construct a viable panic room within an existing property. At PDP Security we always endeavour to provide the most cost effective solution and pride ourselves on our ability to provide value at every stage of the project. In order to determine the exact cost of the installation we work closely with our clients to understand the complete specification they require.