We had a situation today where a car for sale suddenly started rolling down a street. People were yelling and screaming and a massive crowd of people was following once the car hit a mini-bus. Thankfully, no one was hurt but the yelling and blaming reminded me of the class simulations where huge crowds can suddenly turn into a mob or develop a dynamic of their own. We stayed away from the crowd to draw no attention. GJS training helped to shape my understanding of particular situations and sharpening my awareness. Most importantly, I have been able to make travel companions aware that certain behaviors are inappropriate or at least warrant analysis and assessment.

Frank's fantastic team at Global Journalist Security gave me the exact sort of hostile environment training I had been looking for -- and actually should have had prior to a 12-day reporting trip to Pakistan in 2015. But now, after two intensive days spent learning, participating and practicing everything from first aid in the field, to active shooter scenarios, I feel as though I've built valuable muscle memory that will help safeguard myself and my colleagues on future assignments. That's because GJS goes beyond risk identification and mitigation, to provide practical instruction on actual responses so you know what to do in those "what if" situations.

Thank you for the fantastic job you do putting on the courses. My husband and I were behind a minivan that lost control going about 70 mph on the highway late Sunday night, and we were the first on the scene. Miraculously(!), nobody was hurt so fortunately I didn’t have to put the first aid training to use, but I credit GJS with the fact that I was able to keep a clear head and actually be of assistance to the driver (and her 7-month-old baby) until the EMTs arrived. I found myself employing other techniques we learned – checking for danger as I approached the van, being aware of the fact that the airbags hadn’t deployed and positioning myself in a way to avoid injury should they go off belatedly, etc. I think the most important thing that GJS gave me, though, was the confidence to be proactive – providing instructions to the other bystanders, keeping the driver calm and in control, and assessing the situation to give 911 the information they needed.

I found the training quite helpful personally. All the lead trainers – Frank, Sara, Shane, Paul, and Brianna – were knowledgeable, engaging and receptive to questions. Frank talked about two discriminators for their approach: the fact that they brought in a multiplicity of views (Australian/British/American special forces) rather than being trained by people from one school of thought/force, and the strong attention to emotional/spiritual care as an integrated and cross-cutting theme for the training. I felt that their attention to multiple viewpoints, and the dedication to the connectivity between emotional/spiritual/physical responses and care were both evident and welcome.

Thanks for a great training! Everyone was excellent—from the instructors to the actors leading to the simulations. I feel confident I have a frame of reference and tools that will help ground me if I find myself in challenging situations (both at home and abroad). I will recommend the course highly to my colleagues.  

Thanks so much [Sara Salam] for your support and sharing your wisdom during the training. ... I've done a lot of work in sexual assault prevention and trauma psychology, and I think you're one of the best instructors I've seen or worked with.

I want to thank you and your team for the fantastic training I received. I did my first trip to an active frontline in Iraq this May and everything I learned was put immediately to use. I couldn't imagine going there without such training. I will be going back to Iraq soon and will no doubt have you and your course to thank again for keeping me safe.

GJS have an experienced staff and the right facilities to offer an authentic and properly guided experience for journalists and NGOs who will be traveling to potentially hostile environments. Their "Old City” indoor training facility -- with its dimly lit, confusing maze of alleys and realistic sound affects-- provides a very convincing backdrop for security awareness and first aid trainings in challenging urban situations. I learned a lot from Frank and his team at GJS and I have recommended GJS to the rest of my staff.

I know this training will be absolutely essential to my personal safety and self-care in a hostile environment. The HEFAT training has taught me more about myself and provided more knowledge than my entire undergraduate experience. It is a must have for anyone working in hostile areas.

 

Without that 50% subsidy, I couldn't have taken the course!

Really excellent: practical, sensible and hands-on teaching and training about what to expect and how to cope in difficult situations.

 

The training provided real-world experiences, advice, and resources to practice reacting to the chaos! The scenarios were totally stressful -- I bailed on one of them -- but I feel much better equipped to handle myself in potentially dangerous situations.

I believe that every journalist who is up to working in a conflict zone or in a hostile environment should go for the HEFAT course.  It’s imperative to his or her safety and wellbeing as well as that of his team. The GJS HEFAT course I have attended gives it all.

The degree of professionalism, hands on learning, and instruction by far exceeded any expectations that I could have imagined. It was intense, empowering, and I took home valuable, life-saving skills for mitigating danger to myself and those around me. The training is essential for non-for-profit and NGO staff who work in security risk areas, and is designed to give participants with no military, first aid, or combat training a variety of tools and skills for assessing danger and reducing personal risk. This class is essential for all staff, and especially for females who travel alone or in small groups.

I found the class very useful. I was also surprised how much I learned about myself. I discovered that stress/adrenaline can make it difficult to focus on the task at hand, which enabled me to find some good coping mechanisms like steady breathing and constant talking with the teammates/conscious casualties. I also learned that I tend to have more of a fight response under pressure - so can work on trying to defuse a situation when possible, rather than escalating it. Finally, the self care module helped underline the importance of not underestimating taking proper care of yourself when exposed to stressful situations - something I will now always bear in mind.

Just concluded a course on Hostile Environments and Emergency first aid, thanks to IWMF and its partner Global Journalist Security. i think it is the best Journalism training ever. We handled various topics like situational awareness, Basic Digital hygiene, Travel security, combat hazards among other things....back to Gulu safely. The training addressed several gaps especially on security of journalists but also first aid and approaches to different scenarios.

 

Found all the 'first aid under stress', the 'protest preparation' and the ballistics, explosives and 'cover from fire' sections really helpful.

I was at an outdoor ATM on a city street and was just about to withdraw money when I noticed a man approaching quickly from behind and slightly to the side of me. His body was angled toward me, and I assumed he was going to ask for money, but I felt threatened by how quickly he was moving and the fact that he was approaching while I was at an ATM. I remembered what I had been taught in the Global Journalist Security training with Frank Smyth and Sara Salam, so I quickly put my arm out, palm forward and said in a very loud commanding voice, "DO NOT APPROACH ME WHILE I AM AT AN ATM." The man immediate stopped. He stared at me for just a moment, then ran away. I don't know what his intention was, but I felt happy and confident that I was able to stop his approach and protect myself this way.

This is to say thank for both the theoretical and physical skills that you trained me on during the journalist security training. I know these skills will play a big role in saving my life and the lives of others while I do my day to day work. In a nutshell, the skills you trained me in made me a better journalist with life saving skills. Thank you once again and wish you the best in your endeavors.

Global Journalist Security trainers provide highly professional instruction tailored to our specific needs and adjusted according to our students’ experience levels and interests.  The flexibility, professionalism and range of instruction makes them a great choice for us and for anyone intending to send reporters to potentially hostile situations.    

I have never been through such a thorough and informative security training. Thank you, GJS. The arc of my training went something like this: Scared coming in. Informed going out. Confident moving forward. I thought the entire training was remarkable and I think you are a great team. I was thoroughly engaged, even hooded, assaulted, threatened, and on my knees! I am grateful for your good work.

I highly recommend the training. It provided great information and practice to better prepare me for my upcoming trip to Liberia. Everyone should attend a training like this, especially if you are traveling out of the USA where medical care may not be as available. More humanitarian workers die from car accidents than anything else, and we should all be prepared with basic first aid.

This training gives a genuinely authentic feel to what it’s like to be in a war zone, testing your performance under stress in a safe but pressured  environment. It’s about the best preparation I can imagine for the real thing. [A few days after training, Brian sent us this...] Am at Baltimore airport waiting to board a flight to london. Old lady just collapsed - thanks to you lot I made sure she was breathing and got her in the recovery position.  Security staff were shit and cops took 20 mins to get here; paramedics have finally arrived but I want to say thanks for giving me the knowledge and confidence to help her.

You'll be hard-pressed to find better—and cooler—security instructors than GJS trainers. Their three-day training course left our reporting group equip with the first aid and hostile environment skills to venture confidently into a dangerous area and track the stories we needed.

I highly recommend this training. These critical skills could potentially save your life, or someone else. Journalist Security's approach to training is very effective: learn-by-doing. Expect to get your hands dirty through many hands-on, applied scenarios that will make you feel the intensity of potential crises.

There are a host of courses available to journalists on hostile environment training, but our training with Frank Smyth and his team at GJS was set apart from them because of his experience and his ability to speak from an angle of a journalist who has dealt with various dangerous situations. It was a course that covered many bases, that even as experienced journalists, we found to be incredibly useful for preparing our next trips.  

I appreciated the combination of classroom work and practical exercises. The high level of the instructors combined with realistic simulations to result in a robust training. I feel as if I can support myself and my team members in a variety of unpredictable situations.

Global Journalist Security provided a superior digital security training workshop for a small group of IWMF journalists.  The GJS trainer, who was clearly an expert in the realm of protecting electronic data, really took the time to understand our reporters’ needs and to provide extra one-on-one attention to make sure everyone was on the same page.  Though the participating journalists all work for major media outlets, and many had reported from countries known for electronic surveillance, none of them had received this kind of training before.  It was an invaluable experience for them, and the IWMF will undoubtedly seek out GJS’s digital security expertise for its future programs.

I worked in hostile environments prior to completing the GJS course. I now look back and think how foolish that was. GJS gave me hands on practical knowledge on how to prevent the worst case scenario, and what to do should it unfortunately arrive. The class covers everything from how to bandage a wound to what to do should you find yourself in the path of a grenade. I use the knowledge I gained during from GJS regularly while on assignment. It's made me a better reporter.

Global Journalist Security provides us with detailed risk assessments to help us make the best safety decisions before sending people into the field. We use GJS to help with our evaluation of risk from both physical and digital threats.

Preparing to send my team to a sensitive area after the expulsion of a number of foreign journalists had us on edge. Global Journalist Security’s detailed mission risk assessment coupled with a rigorous security protocol made us realize that there were many steps we could take in advance of the trip and once on the ground to minimize risk and assure a quick response should the need arise.

The Global Journalist Security training was an incredibly eye-opening experience, and one I highly recommend not only for people traveling to dangerous corners of the world, but to anyone, anytime, anywhere. Beyond sitting my colleagues and I down and explaining what potential dangers lurked in our destination country, Frank and his team of experts listened to our concerns, observed our verbal/non-verbal reactions and tailored their training to help prepare us best for a potential encounter. They helped me to identify my own deficiencies and learn how to react to potential dangers through dialogue and role play. This training was not only educational, it was empowering.

Frank Smyth has been a key advisor for World Pulse’s online new media, citizen journalism and empowerment training for grassroots women leaders since 2010. His dedication and expertise have helped us ensure a safe working environment for our program participants, who are writing from some of the most repressive regimes in the world.

The training I received in advance of a planned trip to Bahrain amid the ongoing violence made me feel more prepared physically and mentally and I highly recommend Global Journalist Security's approach for anyone planning to travel to a potentially dangerous country.

A big hug to you both. For you and for Sara. You penetrated our minds and hearts. More than you two can imagine. Good luck!!! Un fuerte abrazo para los dos. Para ti y para Sara. Penetraron en nuestra mente y corazón. Más de lo que ustedes mismos imaginan. Suerte!!!! Ciudad de México, Febrero 2012 / Mexico City, February 2012

The personal and professional security training conducted by Global Journalist Security was both interactive and informative. I left the training with a much greater knowledge of how to assess my surroundings and how to protect myself in vulnerable situations.

The best course on journalism or related to journalism that I have taken. Very good, Frank. El mejor curso de periodismo o relacionado con el periodismo que he tomado. Muy bueno, Frank. Ciudad de México, Febrero 2012 / Mexico City, February 2012

The ADET training provided by Global Journalist Security was informative and empowering. I feel much more prepared to safely carry out my work, which often takes me into high risk environments. The combination of hands-on skills training, attack avoidance techniques and emotional self-care provides essential skills for anyone working on the ground in dangerous settings.