I got out of the room in a few hours (just off and on playing), after much experimentation, and using just one small hint–the clickable areas aren’t set up very well for one or two of the important items you need, and despite my best efforts I kept missing one until I read where to find it (and I must have clicked that spot a good 50 times).
It ended up being a disappointingly simple means of escape; but you gotta admit, playing around trying to figure it out is actually kinda fun! I liked the sense of realism in such a basic-looking Flash game. Thanks again to whoever posted that originally!