Hope is not a strategy when your job is to go to a volatile area or one which has a security threat which is very high. Hostile Environment Safety Training (HEST) provides professionals with the practical skills and knowledge they require to be able to work safely in difficult environments.

What Hostile Environment Safety Training?

Hostile Environment Safety Training, which is sometimes called HEAT (Hostile Environment Awareness Training) or HET (Hostile Environment Training), trains people who work in the crisis area, or who might be involved in potentially dangerous situations. Initially designed to train military men and war correspondents, these courses are now common pre-training to aid workers, journalists, corporate officers, researchers and anyone whose profession puts them in place of great danger.

The training is more than just the travel safety tips. Participants are taught how to evaluate threats, act in the case of an emergency, and make important decisions within pressure. It is about gaining confidence by learning and practising and as such, when something does go wrong your training kicks in automatically.

Who Needs This Training?

A number of professional groups conduct HEST courses on a regular basis:

Journalists and media practitioners who run storeys about conflicts, political disturbances or even natural calamities must understand how to work safely in the process of getting a storey. They experience special problems, including going through hostile crowds and being detained by the authorities.

NGO staffs and aid workers tend to operate in some of the most hazardous places in the world. They are trained to carry on with important humanitarian activities whilst living with personal security.

Business travellers of corporations going to unstable areas need to be educated on the dangers of kidnapping, civil unrest and medical emergencies. HEST certification is becoming mandatory in many companies before they permit travelling to risky destinations.

The knowledge of local risks and emergency measures comes in handy when researchers and scholars are doing fieldwork in a difficult setting.

Adventure travellers and expedition leaders travelling to remote or politically unstable areas use HEST to get ready to face situations not covered by standard travel insurance.

What Does the Training Cover?

HEST courses can be one day up to five days depending on the level of coverage. The most optimal programmes have a combination of classroom theories and practicalities.

It is based on threat assessment and situational awareness. The participants get to learn how to read their surrounding, identify warning signs, and make decisions that are wise when to move forward and when to withdraw. This involves the knowledge of the cultural backgrounds and political conditions that may impact on the safety.

Most courses are based on medical emergency. Even remote environments do not have suitable medical facilities and, thus, participants are taught the basics of first aid, trauma injuries treatment, and how to treat conditions such as hypothermia or heatstroke until appropriate assistance is received.

Rape and prisoner scenarios are simulated in the form of realistic role playing. Although nobody wants to become a hostage, understanding how to act may make a big difference. Training includes the basics of negotiations, psychological resiliency and how to deal with the authorities.

Defensive driving in vehicle safety and ambush response: vehicle safety and ambush response trains you on defensive driving skills and in case your vehicle is ambushed, or you are caught in a crossfire.

Communication and crisis management means you can be in touch with your organisation, communicate using emergency communication equipment, and adhere to the laid down security measures.

Personal security practises involve securing your accommodation, handling your online security, avoiding surveillance, and being low profile where needed.

The Importance of Practise.

The best HEST training is not to lecture but to put the participants in real world situations. Pressure gives you an insight into how you will react in a crisis and not how you believe you will react.

The role-play may involve facing an aggressive checkpoint, civil disturbance, or facing a medical emergency with scarce resources. The simulations generate stress (in a controlled manner) in order to develop muscle memory and confidence in participants.

Most of the courses also have physical aspects. You may train how to drive out of a car under fire, how to give first aid in hard-to-reach areas, or drive in fog. It assists in the reinforcement of the skills, as they become automatic with the repetition.

Choosing the Right Course

Not every HEST course is alike. Search for training under the tutelage of instructors who have true field experience. Former military members, journalists, or those with experience in the security field who have worked in a hostile environment have credibility and practical experience, which is not possible to find with academic instructors.

The course ought to be aligned to your needs. A journalist travelling to a battlefield would be at risk of different things compared to a mining executive travelling to an unstable nation. The finest training providers tailor their materials according to your destination, role and probable situations.

Group size matters too. Smaller classes (usually 8-15 participants) will be more interactive, and the attention will be more personalised, and various experiences and points of view can be discussed meaningfully.

Beyond the Course

HEST is not only about the training process, but also about the transformation of the attitude to risky situations that you will never forget. Graduates always state that they are more confident and better equipped, however, that they are also more aware of risks they have not thought about.

The HEST is nowadays part of the duty of care policies of many organisations. When dispatching personnel to hazardous areas, appropriate training is not only best practise, but in many cases, a legal mandate.

The training also introduces you to people that have the same challenges. Courses networking can be invaluable and form a community of professionals who can exchange their advice and support one another in the field.

Making the Investment

The courses of HEST demand money and time, and the money is well-worth it. In addition to the obvious advantage of perhaps saving your life, the training also shows professional competence. Most insurance policies insist on it in travelling to specific areas and employers are more and more demanding of it.

In the case of people working on a regular basis in the difficult environment, refresher courses after every two to three years would assist in maintaining skills and also imparting new information on emerging threats.

Self-confidence that is gained through adequate preparation is priceless. Rather than flying under the stress of the worst-case scenario, the HEST graduates are able to fly with clear heads and viable strategies. They are familiar with what they need to seek, how to react and when to seek assistance.

Hostile Environment Safety Training has ceased being a niche requirement and has evolved into a critical professional training in a world in which humanitarian crises, conflicts, and instability do not seem to be fading away. You may be an experienced correspondent or just starting to send your first letters to a crisis area, and preparation may be the only way to go.

To journalists, aid workers, corporate workers and adventurers going into volatile areas, good preparation can be the difference between a successful adventure and a risky scenario that gets out of control. Hostile Environment Safety Training (HEST) is now a mandatory course to anyone intending to work in a conflict zone, politically unstable country, or just a remote area where standard safety measures do not apply.

What Is HEST?

Hostile Environment Safety Training, sometimes shortened to HEST, HEAT or HET, provides participants with skills and knowledge that are useful in the field and allow them to work in a high-risk environment safely. These classes run the gamut of threat evaluation and security awareness training, to first aid in austere environments, and emergency response measures.

In contrast to standard training on workplace safety, HEST programmes concentrate on real-life situations, which the participants are prone to face in hostile territories. The training helps bridge the gap between what is in theory and what is in practice, so that when a crisis occurs, the individuals are able to act in response and not paralyze.

Who Needs This Training?

HEST courses have a wide range of participants. A large number of attendees are broadcast journalists and reporters who are travelling to the conflict zones, with organisations such as the BBC, Czech Television, and the European Broadcasting Union regularly dispatching their staff to attend training.

This preparation is also realised by international development workers and NGO employees who are to work in the areas that are impacted by political instability, natural disasters, or humanitarian crises. Multinational companies in high-risk markets are sending corporate travellers to these courses as a part of their duty of care requirements.

Adventurers and gap year students that travel through difficult areas also find it advantageous to know how to evaluate risks and how to respond to emergencies in remote areas.

Content and Structure of the Course.

HEST programmes are usually two or five days long, but custom-made one-day courses may be designed to meet a particular requirement. The training is structured to combine classroom theory and practical exercises, which makes the whole learning process interesting and engaging to the participants.

Topics covered include:

Security awareness – Awareness of the level of threat, awareness of suspicious behaviour and situational awareness in foreign surroundings.

First aid and trauma treatment – When hospitals are a couple of hours away or merely non-existent, medical emergencies in hostile conditions need to be approached differently. The training involves the treatment of severe injuries, hypothermia management, and field trauma.

Kidnap and detention – Although no one would wish to think about such a possibility, knowing how to act in case of a detention or kidnapping can greatly help the situation. Role-play activities are used to teach the participants to rehearse these situations in controlled environments.

Crisis management – All decisions made in a crisis, communication with fellow staff in an emergency, and evacuation.

Safety of vehicles – There are numerous accidents when traveling on the road. Training includes defensive driving, checkpoint operations and ambush or accident response.

Cultural awareness – Realizing local practices, not being unintentional offenders and understanding cultural issues that can influence individual safety.

The Training Experience

The participants always emphasize the practice of HEST courses. Instead of listening to endless presentations, the attendees are involved in realistic scenarios and practical exercises. Trainers who have real experience in the field make the training authentic and do not sensationalise the risks by giving them first-hand experience of what really happened.

The learning process is not too serious and has a pace that is manageable. Small groups (usually about 12 people) enable personal focus and open the possibility of peer learning because the participants can exchange experiences and insights in various disciplines and nations.

The conversations and informal interactions between the participants in the evening also introduce another layer to the learning, especially when it comes to processing emotionally challenging information regarding trauma and worst-case scenarios.

Customized and Adaptable Services.

Flexible delivery methods are currently being provided by training providers to meet the various organisational requirements. Face-to-face courses are the best and the most immersive. Nevertheless, virtual training sessions and online webinars have turned out to be a valid option, especially in organisations where the teams are distributed worldwide.

Tailor-made courses may be based on a particular deployment location, organisational risk, or level of experience of participants. A media organisation dispatching a team to report on elections in a specific country may get training on the specific threats in the region, whereas an NGO operating in many countries may require more extensive coverage.

Beyond the Course

The advantages of HEST training are not only limited to the direct learning. The participants state that they are now more confident about future deployments and they are better prepared to make effective decisions in the face of pressure. The training usually causes organisations to re-examine their travel policies, insurance plans and risk assessment practices.

The course is reportedly eye-opening to many of the attendees, as it identifies risks that they were previously not aware of, and offers practical methods of mitigating them. To experienced travellers, HEST can be a refreshing course of knowledge that renews their understanding and breaks the rut.

Making the Investment

Though HEST courses demand an investment of time and money, organisations are seeing this as mandatory, as opposed to optional. The moral and legal responsibilities of employers to provide sufficient preparation arises through the duty of care employers have towards the staff when travelling to high-risk areas.

To someone who is financing their training, say freelance reporters or an independent adventurer, the price can be quite high. But the experience acquired may be priceless, and even life-saving in certain instances.

Final Thoughts

There will always be certain risks involved in working or travelling in hostile environments which cannot be completely overcome. Nevertheless, appropriate training can greatly minimize the chances of incidents, and enhances the results in case of misfortunes.

Hostile Environment Safety Training equips with hands-on skills, instills confidence and establishes a state of awareness and preparedness. This preparation to those going into difficult regions is not only reasonable, but a necessity.

Traveling can be an exciting and enriching experience, but it also has a huge environmental impact. That doesn’t mean that we should avoid exploring the world, however. We can make sustainable decisions to preserve the places we visit for future generations.

To reduce your carbon footprint while traveling, plan ahead and consider eco-friendly alternatives such as taking public transportation or renting a hybrid car instead of relying on air travel or traditional gas guzzling vehicles. When you reach your destination, explore local markets and restaurants for locally sourced food rather than packaged convenience items. You will not only get a sense of the culture through its cuisine, but you’ll also be supporting local businesses and farmers in the process.

When choosing accommodations, look for hotels, hostels, and resorts that use energy-efficient appliances, have low water consumption policies in place, and offer green initiatives like solar power or organic cleaning products. If you’re camping or hiking, do your best to leave no trace by bringing only biodegradable items with you and refraining from littering.

You can also get involved in more direct ways while traveling by volunteering with local organisations working on conservation projects. This is a great way to give back to the environment and build relationships with people in surrounding communities.

By making conscious decisions about our travels and taking steps to reduce our environmental impact, we can ensure that future generations will be able to enjoy the same incredible experiences that we are today.

One of the best ways to make your journey an adventure is by planning ahead. Make sure you plan out where you want to go and what activities you want to do during your trip. Research different places that offer unique experiences such as camping, hiking, or sightseeing so that you can get the most out of your time away from home.

It’s also important to keep things flexible during your journey. Things happen in life and it’s important to be open-minded when it comes to altering plans if needed. Allow yourself some room for spontaneity and encourage yourself to explore new areas or try something different than what you had originally planned. It’s these moments that will often end up being the highlight of our journey!

Finally, don’t forget to document your adventure. Writing down memories or taking pictures are a great way to look back on the amazing experiences you had during your journey. Keep a journal and make sure to capture special moments so that you can relive them in years to come. Your journey should be an unforgettable experience, and documenting it will help ensure that it remains with you long after you have returned home. So go ahead and start planning for your next big adventure — it’s going to be something wonderful!

When travelling with sleep apnoea, it is important to plan ahead and have a strategy for when things don’t go as planned. Here are some tips for having restful nights on the road:

• Bring all necessary supplies and equipment with you – this includes your CPAP machine, extra masks, filters, adapters, and any other items that may be needed in order to keep your machine running properly.

• Speak to your doctor before travelling so you can get advice about managing your condition while abroad. You should also ask them about any medications you might need to take before or during travel.

• If possible, book early flights or transports which offer lie-flat seats – these will allow you to sleep more comfortably during your journey.

• Whenever possible, stay in accommodation with good air quality and comfortable beds. You may also want to look for ones that offer blackout curtains if you’re sensitive to light while sleeping.

• Make sure you know the emergency services available at your travel destination just in case you need them during your trip.

• Take some time to relax and unwind before bedtime – this can help reduce stress levels which can interfere with restful sleep.

By following these tips, you should be able to enjoy a restful night’s sleep while travelling abroad – no matter where your gap year adventures take you!