You may be a high school graduate on a gap year and about to go on a trip across unstable areas, you may be a newspaper reporter out to cover a conflict zone, or an aid worker going to an area of crisis and there is one question all this would set you asking: am I adequately prepared in case something does go wrong?
Hostile Environment Safety Training comes in at that. These courses are often known as HEST, HEAT or HET, and they have become a mandatory requirement prior to any working or travelling in an area where individual security cannot be assumed.
What Actually Is HEST?
The point of Hostile Environment Safety Training is not to make you a survival expert or impart combat skills. Rather, it is feasible training on the real-life dangers that you may encounter in hazardous places. Consider kidnapping situations, civil unrest, medical problems in isolated areas, or just having a clue on how to see trouble coming before it rears its ugly head towards you.
These courses are usually two to five days, crammed with the combination of a classroom theory, practical exercises, and role-play scenarios, which place you in a situation that you may well find yourself in. The locations may be disconcertingly natural – some providers conduct courses remotely, when you are already out of your comfort zone.
Who Needs This Training?
The short answer? One going anywhere really dangerous.
One of the first elements that journalists and media crews realised to appreciate HEST was when they were covering conflicts or in unstable areas. However, that training has gone far beyond the media sphere. Aid workers, NGO employees, corporate employees with international assignments, and even gap year students travelling through more at-risk countries are also signing up.
Actually, this training could save your life just in case you are the kind of person who goes out to hike a mountain in a t-shirt (you know who you are). Even seasoned travellers usually find holes in their knowledge – things they had never thought would go terribly wrong.
What Does the Training Cover?
The content of any course is dependent on its length and focus, although a typical HEST programme addresses a number of core areas:
The worst-case scenarios are not avoided in training. You will be taught how to act in the case of kidnapping or arrest, how to deal with violent checkpoints, and how to understand when a particular situation is on the brink of becoming unsafe. Role-play exercises allow you to practise these skills under controlled conditions, and which are invaluable when the adrenaline is racing through you during a real crisis.
There are also medical crises. Being cold, first aid when hours away to professional help, and what your travel insurance covers are all the conventional ones. The medical content, say many participants, is the main reason why the course is well worth the fee.
Another important component is risk assessment. You must be aware of the threats you may encounter even before you get to country. Regions have their own difficulties – what would not cause trouble where you are, will cause it where you are not. Good courses customise the content based on the real destinations the participants are visiting.
Then there is the mental aspect. Being able to handle stress, having a clear head when everything goes wrong, trauma, these are not luxuries, these are survival skills. The training focuses on overcoming the emotional aftereffect of dangerous situations, not to mention overcoming it in the first place.
The Real Effect It Has.
The testimonials about the individuals who have attended HEST classes are impressive. A Czech TV cameraman owed his survival to the training when working in Cairo as his colleagues were kidnapped and imprisoned in the process of filming. One of the gap year students who had first scowled at the idea of going through the course re-emerged with glowing reviews of how valuable it had been.
So that is the way you find it time and again: people come in with unbelieving minds, and end up thankful. There is a colossal difference between what one knows theoretically and has in fact practised to do in a crisis. Once something goes wrong, you do not even have time to think – you must take action, and that is what training provides.
Is It Worth It?
When you are going somewhere that is actually harmful, it is not whether you can afford to do HEST, but whether you can afford not to do it.
The training is not cheap especially the extended courses. But consider that against the possibility of being caught off the guard in an emergency. Insurance companies are giving a greater demand to show proper preparation and some will not cover you in high risk areas unless you can show it. One common example of employers who tend to order HEST as a matter of standard is those ones who send employees to hazardous areas.
Gap year students or independent travellers with slightly more restrained finances might have access to shorter one or two day courses provided by some providers and which cover the necessities. Other offer custom training based on routes or regions, and this training can prove cheaper than a complete multi-day programme.
Choosing the Right Course
Not every HEST course is the same. Seek out teachers who have a real life experience in the field – those who have worked in hostile conditions, not just those who teach about them. The most effective courses balance between serious preparation and the setting in which you can actually learn, combining serious practical exercises with the possibility to discuss and process what you are learning.
Group size matters too. Classes of about 12 people are usually fine, not too small and too large to provide different points of view. The value can be seen through international groups, where you can learn by experiencing a different approach and experience.
The Bottom Line
Seldom does anybody want to think of what might happen. However, when you are going to places where they cannot guarantee security, that is exactly what you should do. Hostile Environment Safety Training will not make you risk free but it will provide you with knowledge and skills on how to identify danger, avoid trouble where possible and deal with the emergencies in the event that avoidance is no longer an option.
It may appear to be an unnecessary cost or over-reaction. Talk to any of them who have been called upon to avail themselves of the training they got, and you’ll be told the same: it was worth every penny.