Training & Hostile Environment Courses

Training - Hostile Environment Courses

These days there are more hostile environment courses than you can shake a stick at. For freelancers these can work out quite expensive, so do choose carefully. The best ones in my opinion will last four to six days and cost approximately £2000.

Everyone I speak to who has been on such a course always sings the praises of the medical training element. You will find journalists fresh from their training getting overexcited at the prospect of helping with the slightest office injury as they rush to put their new-found skills to the test. As minorly annoying as it might be having your paper-cut eagerly swathed in a trauma dressing by a newbie trained reporter, it is reassuring to know that they now possess this knowledge and confidence. I have seen journalists apply first aid in the field under fire and have no doubt that the medical training can be the difference between life and death.

The benefits of the security elements are less obvious. Most courses are generic. The security training aims to make students more aware of common dynamics in a hostile situation to assist with split-second decisionmaking. The training cannot be a panacea to every security situation. Ultimately, the decision will lie with the person on the ground, and the more aware an individual is, the better that decision-making will be.

Hostile environment courses are generally valid for three years and refresher courses should take about two to three days.