How to protect yourself from an explosion while at home

Almost everything people imagine about protecting themselves from an explosion is aimed at the wrong thing. It is not about withstanding the impact — that is not in your hands — it is about not being where the impact turns into injuries. And where it turns into injuries is, almost always, in front of a pane of glass.

Choosing the safe room

Walk through your home once with this in mind and decide today, not when an alarm goes off.

Look for: an interior space, no windows, surrounded by as many load-bearing walls as possible. In most homes that is the central hallway, an interior bathroom, a walk-in cupboard or the space under the stairs.

Rule out: any room with a large window, the kitchen — glass, gas and heavy objects all at once — the attic, and rooms with tall furniture that can topple.

Check: that it can be reached in under a minute from where you sleep, that nothing needs unlocking, and that everyone in the house fits sitting down.

Preparing the room in advance

Keep permanently in it, in a box or bag:

• Bottled water for one day per person.
• Torch with spare batteries. Never candles.
• Battery or hand-crank radio.
• First aid kit with pressure dressing, antiseptic and gloves.
• One whistle per person.
• Closed, sturdy shoes for everyone. After an explosion the floor is covered in glass, and barefoot you get nowhere.
• Dust masks or cotton scarves.
• A paper copy of the family plan contact list.

What to do in the moment

If you hear a nearby explosion, a siren, or see a flash:

1. On the floor, face down, in the safe room if there is time, or where you are if not.
2. Against an interior wall, never beside a window or under a heavy hanging object.
3. Hands interlocked behind your neck, elbows protecting your ears, mouth slightly open. An open mouth equalises pressure and reduces eardrum damage.
4. Stay down. There can be more than one wave and a second explosion. Do not get up until several minutes have passed with nothing.
5. Afterwards, check people before things, and put your shoes on before taking a single step.

Strengthening what you already have

No building work, in order of real effectiveness:

1. Stop using the room with the most glass as a bedroom, if you have an alternative. It is free and it changes the most.
2. Heavy curtains or lowered blinds at night: they catch much of the flying glass.
3. Security film bonded to the windows of the rooms you use. It keeps fragments attached to the pane.
4. Tape across the glass as an emergency measure if there is no film. It helps somewhat; it does not replace the above.
5. Anchor shelves and tall furniture to the wall. Same measure as for earthquakes, and it works here too.
6. Clear a second way out of the safe room and of the home, and make sure everyone knows it.

If you are trapped

• Cover your mouth and nose with fabric, even your sleeve. Concrete dust is the first thing that does damage.
• Do not light a flame or a lighter. There may be gas.
• Do not shout continuously. It exhausts you and fills your lungs with dust.
• Tap rhythmically on a pipe, a radiator or a wall: three taps, pause, three taps. Sound travels through rubble far better than a voice.
• Use the whistle if it is within reach. It is what most increases your chances of being located.

If this guide has shown you that your home has no obvious safe room, the preparedness score reviews the rest of the house by the same criteria.