Safe Haven Planning 101Need help with safe haven planning? What should a safe haven consist of? What should you include inside your safe haven? These are all questions that you should think about when creating a safe haven. Your safe haven is a place for you and your family to escape to in the event a criminal breaks into your home while someone is there. Here you will be safe until law enforcement arrives. The task of creating a plan sounds more difficult that it really is. So here are helpful some steps: 1) Assess your situation. Do you live in a house or apartment? If an apartment, what floor are you located on? 2) Think like a criminal. How would you break into your house if you were a criminal? 3) Choose a safe haven. Choose the room with the least windows and doors. Depending on the floor plan try to ensure there is a bathroom located within the room. 4) Prepare your safe haven. Make sure the panel to the home security alarm is in the room you choose. Ensure a landline phone, as well as a cell phone, is put in the room. The cell phone is a backup in the event the criminal cuts the phone line. Install a sturdy door with substantial locks that will prevent the intruder from breaking down the door. Also, make sure there is a peephole in this door. Ensure that you have contact numbers written down in the room. Download this form to complete and post in your safehaven. Emergency numbers may be different than those in your home country. For example, in my home country, the United States, the emergency number is 911. Here in Ecuador, where I currently live, the number for the police is 101. 5) Practice with your family. Conduct monthly drills where you and your family pretend that an intruder has broken into your home. Make sure family members know what to do. Don’t wait until the actual incident occurs. Having a safe haven in your home if you live abroad is important. It could save your life or the life of a family member.
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