What HEAT training covers
A standard HEAT programme covers: threat and risk awareness (understanding the security environment in the specific deployment area), personal security and movement (low-profile movement, counter-surveillance, checkpoint procedures), first aid and trauma management (haemorrhage control, airway management, casualty evacuation — skills specifically relevant to conflict-environment injuries), vehicle safety (what to do in a vehicle ambush, convoy procedures, roadside IED awareness), kidnap and hostage survival (if-captured procedures, maintaining psychological resilience in captivity), and communications procedures (how to maintain contact with a support base and report incidents).
HEAT training is scenario-based — participants practice responses to realistic scenarios rather than only receiving classroom instruction. Stress inoculation (practising under pressure, with time constraints and realistic simulations) is a key element, since the training value comes from having experienced the stress of a near-realistic scenario in a safe environment before encountering the real situation.
HEAT programmes are scaled to the deployment environment. A programme for journalists or NGO workers deploying to a low-intensity conflict zone has a different content and depth profile than one for security contractors or military-adjacent personnel in a high-intensity conflict environment. The training provider should understand the specific deployment environment and tailor the programme accordingly.