Hostile Environment Awareness Training
Prepare, Adapt, Overcome.
Hostile environment awareness training (HEAT) prepares individuals and organisations to operate safely in high-risk locations, from conflict zones and politically unstable regions to areas of civil unrest, high crime, or infrastructure failure. The threats are real. The preparation must be too.
At Who Dares Group, our HEAT programme is developed and delivered by former UK Special Forces personnel with direct operational experience in the world’s most demanding environments. Every scenario, drill, and decision framework in our training has been forged in real conditions, not built in a classroom. Whether you are deploying a team to a fragile state, sending journalists into a conflict zone, or managing duty-of-care obligations for international business travellers, we will prepare your people to operate with confidence and come home safe. Our team development programmes are built on the same foundation. If you are looking to strengthen your people beyond the field, that is where to start.
What is HEAT?
Definition of HEAT
(Hostile Environment Awareness Training)
Hostile environment awareness training is a specialist programme that prepares people to identify, avoid, and respond to threats before those threats result in casualties or crisis. It is designed for anyone operating in environments where the normal safety infrastructure, including emergency services, rule of law, and functioning communications, cannot be relied upon.
HEAT is not military training and does not require prior experience of conflict or security operations. It equips civilians, professionals, and corporate teams with the practical skills and decision-making frameworks they need from the moment they deploy. Training covers both the operational and psychological dimensions of working in high-risk environments: how to read a deteriorating situation, plan and prepare effectively, react when things go wrong, and manage the sustained stress of operating under threat.
For organisations that also need to address wider security risk, our Martyn’s Law consultancy and cyber consulting services support a joined-up approach to preparedness.
What Does HEAT Training Cover?
Situational Awareness & Risk Assessment:
Pre-deployment intelligence, threat assessment methodology, and reading the indicators of a deteriorating environment before it becomes a crisis.
Personal Security & Conflict Avoidance:
How to maintain a low profile, avoid being targeted, and de-escalate confrontations before they turn dangerous.
Kidnap & Hostage Survival:
The phases of a kidnap incident, behaviours that reduce the likelihood of being targeted, and psychological and practical frameworks for managing captivity.
First Aid & Trauma Care:
Catastrophic bleeding control, gunshot wound management, trauma response, and casualty evacuation, focused on keeping someone alive until definitive medical care is available.
Navigation & Survival Skills:
Safe movement on foot and by vehicle, route planning, checkpoint protocols, and survival techniques in remote or austere environments.
Vehicle Security & Checkpoints:
Vehicle security procedures, convoy disciplines, immediate action drills for ambush and carjacking, and safe behaviour at checkpoints.
Crisis Response & Evacuation Planning:
Emergency communications, evacuation procedures, contingency planning, and command structures for managing a crisis in the field.
WEAPONS, IEDs & UXO AWARENESS
Recognition of and appropriate response to small arms, improvised explosive devices, landmines, and unexploded ordnance, with emphasis on avoidance and immediate action.
The Benefits of HEAT:
Why You Should Invest in Hostile Environment Awareness Training
HEAT training delivers measurable, practical benefits for individuals operating in the field and for the organisations responsible for sending them there.
For Individuals
Personal Safety & Preparedness
Personal Safety & Risk Awareness:
Learn to identify threats before they escalate. Develop the situational awareness and security mindset that keeps you safe in volatile areas before a situation demands it.
Increased Confidence & Preparedness:
Operate in high-risk locations without being paralysed by uncertainty. Know what to do, when to do it, and how to make clear decisions when the pressure is highest.
Crisis Management & Decision-Making Under Stress:
Train your response to ambushes, riots, and medical emergencies under realistic pressure so that when the real thing happens, your actions are practised, not panicked.
Survival Skills in Hostile Situations:
Urban and wilderness survival, navigation, shelter, hostage survival strategy, and the psychological resilience to endure and recover from extreme conditions.
First Aid & Medical Training:
Trauma care skills delivered to the standard needed in austere environments, covering gunshot wounds, catastrophic bleeding, and fractures when professional medical support is not available.
Enhanced Career Prospects:
HEAT training is recognised across journalism, security, NGOs, and corporate risk management. It signals to employers that you are qualified to operate where others cannot.
For Organisations
Security, Compliance & Business Continuity
Protect Employees & Ensure Duty of Care:
Fulfils legal and ethical duty-of-care obligations for staff working in dangerous areas, and reduces corporate liability and insurance costs.
Stronger Team Resilience & Cohesion:
Enhances teamwork in high-pressure situations by developing a shared security culture, making teams more resilient in crisis zones.
Minimise Operational Disruptions:
Employees trained in security awareness are less likely to fall victim to attacks, kidnappings, or crime. HEAT ensures business continuity by preparing teams for crises (e.g., evacuation planning).
Improved Reputation & Compliance:
Demonstrates commitment to employee safety and risk management, and aligns with ISO 31030 (Travel Risk Management) and corporate security policies.
Reduced Financial & Legal Risks:
Lowers the risk of lawsuits, ransoms, and insurance claims, and reduces costs linked to emergency evacuations and medical treatments.
Preparedness for Global Expansion:
Enables safe business operations in high-risk regions. This gives executives and staff the confidence to work internationally.
Why Invest in HEAT?
Because being unprepared is not an option
Risk is unavoidable. What is avoidable is being unprepared for it. Hostile environment awareness training is not a precaution. It is a professional standard for anyone operating in locations where the consequences of getting it wrong are measured in lives, not inconvenience.
Personal Safety
For Individuals | Reduces exposure to attack, kidnap, and crime |
For Organisations | Discharges duty-of-care obligations and protects your people |
Crisis Response
For Individuals | Builds decision-making under pressure through realistic scenario training |
For Organisations | Keeps teams functional during incidents and enables safe extraction |
Survival Skills
For Individuals | Equips individuals with the practical tools to survive and recover from hostile incidents |
For Organisations | Protects operational continuity in high-risk regions |
Medical Training
For Individuals | Provides trauma care skills applicable in austere environments without medical support |
For Organisations | Reduces medical emergency costs, insurance claims, and evacuation expenses |
Confidence
For Individuals | Builds the resilience and composure to function effectively under sustained threat |
For Organisations | Demonstrates proactive compliance with ISO 31030 and UK duty-of-care law |
Career Advantages
For Individuals | Recognised by employers in journalism, NGOs, security, and corporate risk management |
For Organisations | Signals a serious commitment to staff safety and risk governance |
Who Needs HEAT?
Our hostile environment awareness training serves individuals and organisations across a wide range of sectors. If your work or travel takes people into locations where the risk profile is elevated, HEAT training is part of your duty of care and not an optional extra.
| Industry | Who Needs It? | Reason |
|---|---|---|
|
Media & Journalism |
Reporters, photojournalists |
War zones, riots, kidnapping |
|
NGOs & Humanitarian Aid |
Aid workers, UN staff |
Civil unrest, remote work |
|
Governments & Diplomats |
FCDO, embassy staff |
Kidnap risk, political instability |
|
Security & Risk Management |
Protection officers, risk analysts |
High-risk corporate & VIP security |
|
Oil, Gas & Energy |
Engineers, offshore teams |
Insurgency threats, piracy |
|
Corporate Business Travel |
Executives, employees in global roles |
Political risk, ransom threats |
|
Charities & Missionaries |
Faith-based organisations |
Persecution, conflict zones |
|
Private Contractors |
Contractors on international projects |
Unpredictable or deteriorating security environments |
|
Legal & Compliance Teams |
In-house lawyers, compliance officers in global firms |
Political risk and regulatory instability |
If your organisation also needs to address the security of premises or public-facing events, our Martyn’s Law consultancy covers venue security planning and compliance. For cyber threat awareness, our cyber consulting service works alongside HEAT to address the full risk picture.
HEAT TRAINING DESIGNED AROUND YOUR RISK PROFILE
Our Process:
Structured, Adaptive, Effective
Preparation & Onboarding
Before training begins, we assess your team's deployment profile, existing knowledge, and the specific risk environment they will face. Training content is tailored accordingly and there is no generic package. Onboarding covers registration, documentation, and logistical arrangements.
Pre-Course Briefing:
Participants receive a dedicated briefing covering the training structure, safety protocols, and physical and psychological expectations. Preparatory materials are issued in advance. This ensures every participant arrives ready to engage from the first exercise.
Training Delivery
Delivery combines structured instruction with high-fidelity, scenario-driven exercises. Participants work through risk assessment, crisis response, trauma care, and situational awareness under realistic pressure, building muscle memory and not just awareness. The format adapts to group size, sector, and deployment environment.
Debrief & Certification
Structured post-training debriefs reinforce key lessons and identify areas for continued development. Where applicable, assessments are conducted and successful participants receive certification. Post-training support and access to refresher courses are available to all Who Dares Group HEAT alumni.
Why Choose Who Dares Group
What Sets Who Dares Group Apart in Hostile Environment Awareness Training (HEAT)?
The hostile environment training market has no shortage of providers. What it has a shortage of is instructors who have actually been there. Every Who Dares Group HEAT course is designed and delivered by former UK Special Forces personnel, people who have operated in conflict zones, made high-stakes decisions under fire, and brought teams home from the world’s most dangerous environments. Our instructors are the same people who deliver our team development programmes and keynote talks, and the same expertise runs through everything we do.
Special Forces Expertise
Training is delivered by former UK Special Forces personnel with real-world experience in conflict zones, crisis management, and high-risk operations. Their insights go beyond theory, ensuring participants receive battle-tested knowledge and tactics.
Immersive, Realistic Training
HEAT courses incorporate scenario-based learning, live role-play exercises, and high-pressure simulations. Participants experience kidnap scenarios, emergency medical interventions, and survival exercises to prepare for real-world hostile environments.
Customised Industry-Specific Programmes
Unlike generic security training, Who Dares Group tailors HEAT courses to the specific risks faced by different sectors, including journalists, NGO workers, corporate executives, and government personnel. This ensures maximum relevance and practical application.
Compliance with Security Standards & Legal Requirements
Our training supports compliance with ISO 31030 (Travel Risk Management), Martyn's Law, and UK duty-of-care obligations under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. We provide documentation of training delivered, giving organisations a clear audit trail for their risk management processes. Organisations managing venue security obligations can find additional support through our Martyn's Law consultancy service.
Tactical Medical & Trauma Response Training
Trauma care in a hostile environment is not standard first aid. Our medical training covers catastrophic bleeding control, gunshot wound treatment, fracture management, and casualty evacuation, delivered practically and under pressure in scenarios that reflect real operating conditions.
Post-Training Support & Continuous Learning
Preparation does not end when the course does. Threat environments evolve, personnel change, and new deployments bring new risks. Who Dares Group provides ongoing access to security insights, refresher training, and direct crisis advisory support between courses.
This is not just another security course
This is elite-level preparation, delivered by those who have operated in the world’s most hostile environments.
Frequently Asked Questions
Hostile environment awareness training (HEAT) is a specialist programme that prepares individuals to operate safely in high-risk or unpredictable environments. It covers threat assessment, personal security, situational awareness, kidnap and hostage awareness, trauma care, vehicle security, and psychological resilience. It is relevant to anyone working in or travelling to conflict zones, politically unstable regions, or areas with elevated crime or infrastructure failure.
HEAT training is appropriate for journalists and media teams, NGO and humanitarian workers, corporate travellers and executives, government and diplomatic personnel, close protection professionals, private contractors, and security risk managers. Any individual or organisation with a duty-of-care obligation to people operating in high-risk environments should treat HEAT as a standard pre-deployment requirement.
The programme covers situational awareness and threat assessment, personal security and conflict avoidance, kidnap and hostage survival, vehicle security and checkpoint procedures, weapons and IED recognition, civil unrest and crowd dynamics, trauma care and emergency first aid, communications and emergency protocols, and psychological resilience and stress management. All elements are delivered through a combination of structured instruction and scenario-based exercises under realistic pressure.
The duration of HEAT courses varies, but most run between three to five days. Some providers offer intensive short courses, while others include extended sessions with advanced simulations and in-depth training.
No. HEAT training is designed for civilians from all professional backgrounds. No military experience is required. The course builds knowledge and practical skills progressively, beginning with awareness and moving into scenario-based application under increasing pressure.
The course includes practical scenario exercises that require physical participation. Participants should be in reasonable health and able to engage in active exercises. The training is not designed to be a physical endurance test. It is designed to replicate the conditions you will face operationally. Speak to our team before booking if you have any health considerations. You can reach us via the contact page.
We recommend refreshing HEAT training before each deployment to a new or significantly changed environment, and at a minimum every one to two years. Threat environments evolve, personnel change, and skills that are not practised under pressure become unreliable when they are needed most.
Yes. Corporate travellers, executives, and employees in global roles face real risks including political instability, ransom threats, civil unrest, and crime. HEAT training supports compliance with ISO 31030 and UK duty-of-care obligations, and is increasingly expected by insurers and risk managers for organisations deploying staff to elevated-risk regions. Organisations with additional venue or event security obligations should also review our Martyn’s Law consultancy service.
HEAT (Hostile Environment Awareness Training) focuses on security awareness, threat assessment, personal safety, and crisis response. HEFAT (Hostile Environment and First Aid Training) combines all elements of HEAT with a deeper focus on trauma care and emergency medical response. HEFAT is the appropriate choice for individuals deploying to environments where access to professional medical care may be significantly delayed or unavailable.
Contact our team directly using the enquiry form below or by calling 03300 438 007. We will discuss your requirements, deployment environment, and team profile, and propose training appropriate to your specific risk profile. You can also visit our contact page or browse our frequently asked questions for more information.