The best Protected Spaces are security rooms with walls of reinforced concrete. Since the 1991 Gulf War, about 300,000 security rooms have been built in buildings in Israel.

Those who do not have a security room, should go to an underground shelter within 3 minutes of the sounding of the alarm siren.

Leave the front door to your home unlocked during a siren. This allows rescue units to get into the house if needed.

If you are not home, put on your protective mask and take cover under any protection as quickly as possible. If you are in a car and in a built-up area, then get into sheltered area as soon as possible. If you are in your car and in an open area, then close the car doors, windows and ventilation inlets and put on the protective mask.

Sealing a Protective Space

The best room to seal is one with few windows, attached or close to a bathroom which can also be sealed, and big enough to hold the whole family (at least 5 meters is recommended). Often the parents bedroom is a good choice. Rooms with large windows which can shatter from a blast should not be used.

Sealing materials include plastic sheets, multi-layered tape, floor rugs for the cracks between the floor and the door, long-sleeved waterproof clothes for each family member, and at least a liter of water per person stored in sealed plastic bottles.

If instructions are issued to seal the room, close the rooms windows and blinds. Then use wide tape to cover the window and door frames. Remember to cover the keyholes too.

To prevent windows from shattering, stick strips of tape vertically and horizontally across the window at intervals of about 5 cm to form a web. Then cover each window with a piece of plastic cut a little bigger than the window frame. Tape the plastic to the wall around the window on all four sides forming a second sealed barrier.

It is recommended the plastic is rolled up and taped to the top of the window prior to any alert. Then if there is a siren, the plastic can just be unrolled and quickly taped around the window.

The bottoms of doors should be sealed with towels soaked in water.

Army instructions on sealing a room and what to do first when air raid sirens sound can be found on olive colored pages in between the yellow and white pages of phone books.

Man wearing a gas mask.

• sealing materials
• flashlight with extra batteries
• candles and matches
• radio, television, telephone
• first aid kit and scissors
• fire extinguisher and/or "beaters"
• box of kitchen garbage bags, container of pre-moistened toilettes, and toilet paper
• disposable plastic cups
• supply of water
• modest amount of canned or other preserved food.
• electric fan if room tends to get hot
• family games, cards, puzzles, toys, books

The All Clear Signal

The All Clear signal will be given by slides on the television and a verbal message on the radio. Sirens are not used to signal all clear. One should continue to listen to and follow instructions issued by the security forces that are given on the radio and television.