AST Digital Magazine August 2017 Digital-Aug | Page 72

Volume 15
August 2017 Edition
partmentalize the interiors of the ship in case of
fire or flooding.
We could do the same with these transit spaces
and make it so that once a “bad guy” is in this
space we can seal him or her off so that there is
no freedom of movement.
By restricting the freedom of movement
haven’t we in essence prevented the
threat from causing more victims?
Image provided by Amulet™ Protective Technologies
Create Internally Safe-spaces
Create safe-spaces with-in classrooms, audito-
riums, offices, labs, etc. by using wall coverings
that are ballistic resistant.
Additionally, install ballistically rated doors in-
stead of the standard hollow-core wooden ones.
The idea mentioned above about covering the
entire length of a hallway to prevent “mouse-
holing”, for instance, with ballistic material may
become quite costly.
Image courtesy of Vanguard-Sentinel
Obviously, some technical expertise is needed
and every building or inhabited space would need
to be analyzed on its own merit and would prob-
ably require a different and specific solution, but
the same basic principle would exist throughout.
We would also need to provide additional protec-
tion to the interior walls so that the perpetrator
couldn’t “mouse-hole” his way out of the space.
In other words, limit the ability to shoot thru the
drywall and go into another room. We would need
to figure out what’s the best way to do that in any
given situation.
There are ballistic resistant materials that could
be used as the wall instead of dry-wall or as a
covering to existing walls.
These products are already on the mar-
ket, which we could and should use to
isolate the “rat”.
So, we could use ballistic resistant panels hung
on rollers, similar to current mobile walls that are
used in hotel meeting spaces to accommodate
different size groups; i.e., lectures, conferences,
receptions.
A teacher along with his/her students could pull
them together and latch them from the inside,
so that they cannot be opened except from the
inside.
I believe there is a way to design these “quick
fix safe-spaces” in such a way that a perpetrator
would be very hard pressed to shoot through the
cracks/seams where the panels fit together.
We could also add a fixed communications box
on an existing wall so that communications be-
tween the victims and the response forces could
occur as the situation develops.
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