Preparing for dangers in the field - Personal Security in Emergencies

With humanitarian personnel working in increasingly insecure environments and attacks on aid workers rising at an alarming rate, knowing how best to protect yourself in a foreign country and especially in an emergency situation has never been more important. Last year, 122 relief workers were killed while carrying out their work, making 2008 the deadliest year on record.

Nurse Jill Mowbray spent most of 2008 in the field with MSF and Raleigh International and knows first-hand the challenges and potential security risks aid workers face. Over the course of the year, Jill worked in countries as diverse as Nepal, Nicaragua and Ethiopia. She explains that although she never felt that she was in any immediate danger, understanding the environment in which she worked and any potential dangers was always a priority:

“I never experienced any real security issues on the projects I worked on overseas, however looking back there were situations which could have turned out very differently. For example in Ethiopia where we were responding to a large-scale malnutrition emergency, it is important to keep in mind that very large crowds of hungry and desperate people can quickly become angry and violent - and we did experience some problems with outbreaks of fighting and theft. In Nepal, although there was no significant political unrest when I was there, you always had to carry cash with you whenever you left the capital Kathmandu, in case you were stopped by Maoist rebels and had to pay them off.

“While I am confident that the organisations I went abroad with carried out proper risk assessments on the assignments we worked on, I wanted to gain a better understanding of how these assessments are produced. I also wanted to see how I, as a person, would react in certain security situations. In short, I wanted to better prepare myself for going back into the field and to hopefully increase my personal safety as a result. That’s why I decided to do RedR’s Personal Security in Emergencies (PSE) course. “
 

Practical field exercises bring course to life

PSE is a highly practical security course which runs over four days and examines how to avoid or prevent security situations, and if necessary how to react and respond to threats and problems. As well as theory and security context analysis, the course makes extensive use of simulation exercises to ensure that participants get as close to the real life experience as possible in a safe and controlled environment. As Jill enthuses, these practical exercises are what make the course so unique:

“The biggest benefit of the course for me was that we were exposed to difficult situations in a controlled environment, which allowed us to see how we reacted, while still knowing that we weren’t really in danger. It really helped to be put under pressure and reflect on how we reacted to different situations.

“The different situations we were put in were very realistic and the actors involved were excellent! My highlights from the training were a radio exercise, dealing with checkpoints and the potential risks that these pose, and the kidnap scenario which was very realistic. It was also very important that all the trainers were experts on security issues, and that they had real field experience and were therefore very aware of the types of situations we might face.”

The ‘active learning element’ of the training - confronting participants with situations that they might encounter in the field and afterwards discussing their reactions – is aimed at making the participants reflect on their behaviour and learn from their mistakes. People who have been on RedR’s security training tend to feel more confident and better prepared for going into the field.

“We learn by experience, so going on the course has certainly helped me feel more confident, though I will still be cautious about going into the field in the future. I will certainly read up more on the places I am due to visit and do a thorough Context Analysis before heading out,” Jill comments.

“The course really taught me the importance of not putting myself in a dangerous situation in the first place. However, if anything did go wrong, then hopefully I will now have enough knowledge and awareness to be able to react appropriately and not panic. I intend to do more missions with MSF and I would like to broaden my skill set to be able to work at a more management level as well as at the implementation level, which is why I have also done RedR’s Needs Assessment in Emergencies course. “

The lessons learnt on PSE have also proved useful in other, more unexpected, ways for Jill, who currently works as a Primary Health nurse for a major pharmaceutical company:

“I will also be passing on what I have learnt to staff at my current employer. They need to be made more aware of the potential risks and dangers they may encounter when going abroad on business. This is why I’m arranging a staff presentation on security/Risk Assessments for the European Health and Safety Week coming up in October.

“In the current climate we live in, when you go abroad - on holiday, business or in the field - there is a chance you may have to deal with difficult situations regarding personal security,” Jill concludes.

Find out more about RedR's Personal Security in Emergencies course.

RedR has more than 10 years experience conducting safety and security training both in the field and in the UK. To learn more about our security training, or any of our other training programmes, please contact RedR on training@redr.org.uk or phone +44 (0)20 7840 6000.

 

 

 

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