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03/03/2005 | Getaway Places: Here’s Your Secret Spot for When the Terror Gas Comes

Tim Starks

In the horror and murder mystery fiction of pulp and film, it’s a time-honored cliché that the bookcase in the spooky house hides a secret chamber.

A partnership of two companies, Collective Protection of Baltimore and Israel’s Beth-El Zikhron Yaaqov Industries, turns that cliché upside down.

 

Their bookcase still hides a secret chamber, but that chamber does not lead to danger. Rather, the idea is to protect those who step inside it from harm — the nuclear, radiological, biological and chemical terrorism kind.

“In less than a minute, you can pull this shelter out, get your family in and be safe,” said Dan Collier, Collective Protection’s vice president for business development.

The Noah’s Ark Expandable Cabinet Shelter is fronted by a bookshelf. When its front half is pulled out, a laminate-material-surrounded compartment with an air-filtration system is revealed. Those in danger can walk into the compartment and seal it behind them.
 
The Noah’s Ark Expandable Cabinet Shelter 
  
Depending on how much prospective customers want to spend, the shelter can house anywhere from six to 35 people for up to two weeks.

How such a thing came to be sold here in America is a curious tale.

In the 1960s, a family of German Christians decided to move to Israel. There they founded a company, Beth-El Zikhron Yaaqov Industries, that has become a major producer of “shelters-in-place” designed to protect families against fallout from potential biological and chemical attacks launched from Iraq during the first Gulf War.

In Israel, 10,000 Beth-El systems are in place. In America, Beth-El has teamed up with Collective Protection of Baltimore to sell its shelters — which come in a variety of forms — here. Collier, with his thick Southern accent, works for the company out of Tennessee.

Karl Hans-Fuchs, CEO of Collective Protection, explained the origin of the cabinet shelter in a prepared statement:

“This product came from a failed attempt at serving a wealthy client that wanted collective protection in his Manhattan townhouse,” he said. “We could not seal the area so we went back to Israel and developed the expandable cabinet shelter to provide a real collective protection solution for any home, office or building application without retrofitting.”

Déjà Vu All Over Again
It just so happens that we at CQ Homeland Security Product of the Week Central have written about these shelters before. In 2003, we witnessed a demonstration of a “safe room” that seals up a designated section of a building to protect against weapons of terror.

But even then, we had our eye on the Noah’s Ark Expandable Cabinet Shelter. It just seemed neater than sealing up some room in a building. When a friend of a friend suggested we write about it, we jumped at the chance.

A video demonstration we saw shows a fellow walking up to the bookshelf, pulling out the front half, walking in and turning on the filtration system. Time elapsed: less than a minute.

You may be wondering, though, whether people will be able to use the potty while they are in the cabinet shelter.

Yes.

It’s one option, Collier said, to have a chemical toilet and curtain.

But will people still be able to use their computers while in the shelter?

Yes.

Again, it’s an option to have the shelter rigged for electricity, Collier said.

And does it come in a variety of attractive colors?

You guessed it — yes. The designers thought about just about everything, apparently.

By the Collective Protection/Beth-El team’s thinking, these shelters-in-place are a better option than just running outside, screaming. It’s dangerous, for one.

Dr. Eric Noji, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention medical officer specializing in disaster medicine and chemical/biological/blast terrorism on detail to the Pentagon, has studied the evacuation versus shelters-in-place debate.

Whether one is superior to the other just kind of depends, Noji said, adding that he’s not familiar with the product reviewed here.

If there’s a chemical attack on a one-story business, occupants probably ought to just run outside, Noji said. But in big buildings or multistory structures, that can take too long, and may put others at the risk of exposure.

“If there’s a chemical attack and you have a shelter you can assemble quickly — say, in less than five minutes — that might be a better route to go,” he said. There are numerous companies manufacturing such shelters, some better suited for other kinds of disasters.

A last bit of advice from Collier: The protective shelter bubble is made of pretty sturdy laminate material, but “if you want to take out a knife and carve your initials into it, it won’t withstand that.”

Prices range from $10,000 to $23,000, so most of the customers thus far have been wealthy people interested in protecting their families. But a number of federal agencies have expressed interest as well, Collier said.

Got a product you want to hype? You can take your chances with Tim Starks via tstarks@cq.com. Selection as a “Product of the Week” does not imply any endorsement whatsoever and is meant solely for the entertainment of our far-flung and varied readers.

Source: CQ Homeland Security
© 2005 Congressional Quarterly Inc. All Rights Reserved

CQ (Estados Unidos)

 



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