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.