Course details
3 day residential course based in North Yorkshire, the course will focus on the essential skills that Humanitarian workers need to operate effectively in increasingly hostile environments. Using Koenraad Van Brabant's work on "Operational Security Management in Violent Environments" as its starting point the course examines the Security Management Framework as a way of enabling you to minimise the incidents that you might be involved in. Topics to be covered include:
Security Management: an introduction to the skills that you as someone responsible for the security of yourselves and others need to know. Modules include:
- Situational Awareness: understanding the situation and knowing how to react is possibly the most important skill you can have. This module will teach you how to recognise and read the subtle changes in the threat environment.
- Context Analysis: truly understanding the answers to the questions: who are we, where are we, and what is happening enables you to predict what might happen next and plan accordingly. This module explores how to write the detailed context analysis that will give you the answers.
- Risk Threat and Vulnerability: good security is about keeping you and your team in the field implementing programmes until the last safe moment. Understanding the threats that exist and what makes you vulnerable to them enables you to understand the risk that you face and when combined with situational awareness enables you to make the best decisions.
- Security strategy: Good security should provide maximum risk mitigation in a way that does not conflict with our humanitarian image. Security isn't all about razor wire and body armour and this session covers the alternatives that we have available to us, discusses the advantages and disadvantages and how to go about determining the right one.
- Image and Acceptance: here we discuss how image both personal and agency can profoundly affect our ability to stay safe in a hostile environment
First Aid: in areas where there is no doctor and professional help can be many hours drive away having the ability to carry out first aid can make the difference. These sessions will give you the skills and knowledge you need to administer first aid with confidence. Our highly experienced medics will teach you how to give first aid in the kind of conditions you are likely to meet.
Travel Security: most security incidents happen when travelling. These modules look at route planning, vehicle preparation, ambush drills, and what to do when you lose communications.
Communications: your ability to communicate with the base is vital. Here we discuss the various means of communication found in the field and their pros and cons. For those who would like it there will be an opportunity to receive tuition in the correct operation of a VHF handset.
Negotiation skills: it is always better to avoid an incident so we look at how to negotiate in violent environments and give you tools and techniques that will improve your ability to talk your way out of a situation before it goes wrong. However because sometimes no matter how well prepared you are sometimes things just do go wrong we also include sessions on:
Conflict survival: we look at the kinds of weaponry that you might be unlucky enough to see and discuss practical measures that you can take to mitigate the effects that they can have on you, your vehicle and your office or house.
Landmines and UXO awareness: what they look like, why they are used, where they are commonly found, and how to avoid becoming another landmine victim
Hostage Survival Strategies: of course the best thing of all is don't be taken hostage so we will look at strategies that will minimise the risk but then if it happens we analyse ways of surviving what can be an appalling ordeal.
Practical Exercise: on the last day you will take part in an exercise that is carefully designed and run to allow you to succeed if you use the skills and knowledge that you have gained over the first two days. The aim of this exercise is to give you the confidence to use the techniques that will make a difference in the field, not to frighten or intimidate you.
Armadillo staff are all highly experienced at living and working in hostile environments. They have worked in every major conflict since 1992. They all spend sometime in the field each year working with Humanitarian Agencies as security advisors. They understand the issues that Agencies face and know how to respond in an appropriate way, one that reduces risk without compromising humanitarian image or principles. As trainers, they are uniquely capable of passing their skills and knowledge on to other humanitarians.
Course scheduled for September. Date TBC.