Finding Shelter: Decision Flow

⚠️ Important v1.0

Purpose

Decision flowchart for choosing a protected space when a Red Alert sounds. Choose the highest-priority option you can reach within the time available.

Priority Order

Priority 1: Mamad / Mamak / Mamam

Residential protected room, floor protected room, or institutional protected space.

  • Close the door tightly and turn the handle 90 degrees
  • Close the external steel window AND the internal glass window
  • If double-wing sliding glass window is installed, remove wings in advance and store outside the room

This is the preferred choice if available in your building.

Priority 2: Shelter

Communal building shelter or public shelter.

  • Communal shelter in building — must be reachable within time to shelter, or reachable via inner stairwell (no windows)
  • Public shelter — must be reachable within time to shelter

If no Mamad/Mamak/Mamam exists, this is the next best option.

Priority 3: Inner Stairwell

Stairwell without windows or exterior walls.

  • Stay in the CENTER of the stairwell
  • NOT on the top floor, NOT on the bottom/entrance floor
  • Building with 3+ floors: stay on a floor with at least 2 floors above
  • 3-story building: stay on the middle floor staircase
  • Stay ON the staircase, not in the floor hallway
  • Ensure stairwell is clear of equipment and obstacles

An inner stairwell is surrounded by apartment walls, made of poured concrete, and is the structural core of the building. It is stable, durable, and has been proven to save lives.

Priority 4: Inner Room

Innermost space with maximum walls, minimum windows.

  • Choose a room surrounded by as many walls as possible
  • Minimize windows and openings
  • Sit close to an inner wall
  • Sit BELOW the window line
  • Do NOT sit facing the door
  • Close all doors and windows
  • An inner corridor can also work

Priority 5: Last Resort — Open Ground

No building or protected space available.

  • Lie down on the ground
  • Protect your head with your hands

Spaces That Are NOT Valid

  • Kitchen
  • Bathroom / Toilet
  • Building entrance lobby (risk of shrapnel and blast waves)
  • Prefabricated structures (caravans, wooden houses) — evacuate immediately
  • Areas with ceramics, porcelain, or glass that may shatter

Important Notes

  • Wait 10 minutes in the protected space after the alert sounds
  • Keep the Mamad steel and glass windows closed until end of emergency
  • Maintain clear passages and stairwells at all times
  • Place a chair in stairwell for elderly individuals
  • If in a caravan/prefab: leave immediately, reach shelter or lie on ground
  • Practice reaching your protected space from different rooms

Accessibility

  • Practice reaching the space from kitchen, living room, and bedroom
  • Clear routes of rugs, plant pots, chairs, and other obstacles
  • Move quickly but carefully; use walls, railings, or mobility aids
  • If using wheelchair/walker: move bed into protected space against inner wall, below window line, not facing door
  • If difficulty transferring from sofa to wheelchair: place sofa against inner wall, below window line, not facing door