Feedback

• Respond to casualties with DR ABC
• Recognise hostile situations more easily (kidnapping scenario was particularly useful).

Great experience.

• More awareness of dangers of movement in unknown environment
• Much better planning and thoughts for contingencies when travelling
• Will not be afraid to step in to help and use first aid

It gave an excellent First Aid course and awareness of Hostile Environment conditions.  Level exceeded expectations.  Good use of practical combined with classroom work.  (Facilitators) helpful during practicals without being overly critical.  The instructors were great and it was good to have different ones with each specialism.  Excellent and recommended.

• Generally be more alert and ensure preparedness.
• Prepare a first aid kit with necessary items.
• Buy a helmet for riots / protests.

Great experience.  Thanks to all of you.

• How to recognise areas that are / aren’t safe.
• When to intervene / stop, when to get out of a situation that seems risky.

The instructors were great and helpful – I do hope they’ll be available as I get into conflict zones for follow-ups.
 

• Include first aid kit in travel pack
• Store money and valuables more appropriately
• Prepare better for checkpoint questioning

All instructors were excellent.  Very valuable.

• More planning ahead using maps, emergency kits, contingency alternatives tailored to assignments.
• Do more research on stories before arriving
• Know how to read a map / use a compass!

I found the hands-on practical training to be useful because it forces to you be in active mode.  You used what was learned in a life-like scenario that demanded your immediate reaction and involvement. Thank you so much for your interest in teaching us.

• More time and thought in preventative situations
• Travel with better first aid kit.

Top solid instructors!
 

• Better packing
• More physical preparedness
• Confidence in uneasy situations.

Really great experience; thanks so much!

• React more rapidly to somebody injured
• Learn how to plan my job in hostile situations:  PREPARATION
• I think I will be more prepared mentally for difficult situations.

• Take charge when others don’t to survive a hostile situation
• Ensure a casualty has a better chance at survival because of my actions
• Carefully plan news coverage of potentially dangerous events.

• React in a way that is direct as in first aid
• Be more aware of surroundings
• Better planning.

• Look at possible locations and gain more knowledge of the area, and people
• Don’t set patterns
• My expectations of the course were limited; this course opened my eyes to much more.

• Know how to respond responsibly to a first-aid situation
• Prepare more thoroughly for every trip
• Tell my office to get us better gear !!

• Pre-job assessment
• Being more aware of surroundings while on job
• First aid confidence

• Attentiveness in my work deployment
• Watch my back better than before
• First aid how to (Never knew how to assist someone, that has changed).

• Plan ahead more / pack better
• Be more aware of surroundings
• Stay calm in first aid situation.

• Ability to cope with injured people
• Putting together a more comprehensive emergency kit than I have now
• Share experiences with colleagues going on same trip.

• Apply to everyday life – save someone or myself
• Share safety tips
• Be more careful.

• Know how to assess how well-trained armed individuals are (how holding weapons etc)
• Understand the calculated risks involved in conflict reporting (broadly)
• Have a recon / contingency / exit plan in high risk reporting situations.

• How to manage bribes – I’d always wondered.

• Know it’s OK to turn back / protect your own safety.

• Respond quickly and effectively to a medical crisis.
• Report more accurately on firearms / landmines while reporting on conflict
• Make smarter decisions on where to embed and with what forces to embed. 

• Situational awareness
• Weapon / ballistics knowledge
• Calm head in dangerous situations.

• Find out the security risks before travel and brief the team, no matter how benign the country
• Establish what munitions you will face 
• Ever better planning before each day, working out routes, times, needs myself, not depend on fixer’s advice.

• Be more aware of the accommodation I stay in and personal safety in general
• Take a more active role in vehicle safety, trip planning, minefields
• Be able to perform basic first aid if necessary, rather than simply calling the emergency services.

• I am more aware of how much I could be protected by my flak jackets and other protective equipment
• How to deal with riots
• Am more aware how to protect against kidnapping.

• Greater confidence if I must provide first aid
• Greater effectiveness if I must provide first aid
• Underlined greater need to prepare med kit and emergency tools for foreign assignments

• Better planning in advance of travel for various contingencies
• Better skills at first aid
• Better awareness of security threats

• More effective planning
• Evaluate crisis situation better
• Be of some use when faced with life-threatening health emergencies

Covered the essentials and provided excellent examples.  Exceeded expectations.  Provided both skills and context.  A first rate team.  A wealth of knowledge and relevant experience.

• Remember ‘DR ABC’
• Refresh/revise medical kit
• Better planning for next trip.

Practical exercises, facilitator/trainers are excellent.  Fantastic instructors.

• Better planning for foreign reporting trips
• Better consciousness when identifying possible threats and preparing for them
• Keep on top of first aid skills

• Be more comfortable doing CPR
• Not be nervous at checkpoints / roadblocks
• Calm down (if possible?) if taken hostage

Great instructors, great structure, gorgeous location, fun, collegial environment, good way to get to know other journalists.

• More confident at first aid
• Dealing with drivers
• Better navigation

• Better preparation / planning
• More responsible in the field
• Ability to take action – first aid

Great instructors – funny and informative.

• Proceed with caution – be more aware
• Get and travel with First Aid Kit
• More of the above

First aid: had no previous knowledge and it applies to EVERYDAY.  Kidnapping – although fiction and relatively innocent, it REALLY gives an idea of what it feels like.  Weapons:  Not how to use them, but how to be aware.  All instructors very nice / informative.

• Plan better
• First aid kit
• Know I have the confidence to do some first aid if necessary

Thought it was very thorough and well laid out program.  Learned a tremendous amount.  Thought the instructors ‘read the room’ very well.  The instructors were wonderful.  Smart, engaging and kept a good pace.  Never felt my time was being wasted.  Appreciated their patience and the dry British humor!

• Navigate checkpoints
• Improve planning
• Better driver management

• Build travel first aid kits and use them
• Do risk assessment of travel areas
• Get intel before travel – politics, weather, local news

Great coverage of a range of important areas.

• Assisting people / first aid
• Observing / planning movements
• Reacting to hostile situations

Training objectives were clear and well stated.  I was not totally sure of what to expect but I learned a lot.  Excellent split between theory and practical.  All instructors were knowledgeable.  The course was flexible enough to fit our needs well.  Each instructor did a good job of explaining what they knew and getting input from students with experience.  Course was excellent overall.  It will be highly recommended.

• Have a less laissez-faire attitude to travel to potentially dangerous countries
• Plan travel more carefully

• Increase situational awareness before travelling.  Route planning etc.
• Travel with a first aid kit

• Better all round planning
• More awareness of potential danger areas
• Practice first aid techniques

Great group of guys and very knowledgeable.  Instructors were very personable and did an excellent job conveying the information.  Very impressed.

The most valuable was the practical side, real-life situations etc.  But the theoretical part was very well put together and very interesting.  Your anecdotes, personal experience, stories etc made a huge change, very valuable.

• First help / aid
• Reacting to blood, wounds, violence – less instinctive, more used to the visuals of it now.
• Managing potentially violent environments / situations better, preparation for the ‘what ifs’.

Absolutely fantastic, fascinating and making a difference.  Thank you!

The hands-on simulations exercises were crucial and extremely helpful.

• Be much more aware of my surroundings when I travel
• Anticipate / think of ‘what ifs’
• Being able to give some help (hopefully) in case of first aid crisis.

• I will be more alert while covering violence
• This course gives me more confidence
• This training will help me perform my professional duties

Trainers clearly had a lot of knowledge and experience which makes a big difference.  Use of anecdotes / personal stories etc very effective.  Everyone was really nice and supportive. 

• Actually know what to do in a first aid situation
• Pack emergency bag.  Buy first aid pack
• Better planning generally for country visits in hostile environments.

• React to terrorist situations
• First aid reaction
• Security awareness

• Make a tactical plan to cover events
• Put together a personal first aid kit
• Better identify and spot potential trouble

The instructors were outstanding.  Their presentation and the way they interacted was professional and personable.

• Will have first aid kit with me
• Approach checkpoint with differenet attitude (I won’t separate from co-workers)
• Pack differently.

I wish I’d had this training 10 years ago.  Love the venue, love the instructors, top notch!

• Carry a well-stocked, or smartly stocked, first aid kit
• Much more intense pre-planning for coverage
• Clothing/dressing for Afghanistan

You guys have a great way with the subject matter, not just as experts, but as teachers.

•  Not be afraid to step into first aid situation
•  Be aware
•  Think

First aid was useful for everyday life, not just hostile environments.  Very good.

• Better preparation ahead of potential trips to hostile environments (before trip takes place)
• Make others aware of potential dangers they face (ie. people that haven’t done this course)
• Be more attentive / aware of potential dangers I could face on a job (research ahead of trip, risk assessments etc)

A well run course, very insightful and mainly a good eye opener as to what I could face.  All in all, enjoyable, informative and one I would recommend to my colleagues.

• First Aid – confidence to treat
• Awareness – greater understanding of environment
• Knowledge – weapons / mines (what to look out for)

• Awareness of dangers
• Carrying first aid equipment
• Planning assignments

Trainers superb, knowledge clearly first class and they know how to communicate it to others.  A great and valuable course. 

• Plan before going on location
• React to grave wounds
• React to fire / explosions

• Better prepared to support my (less experienced) colleaguers
• Better prepare my office and residence (grab-bag / safety – first aid kits)
• Better prepared to assist myself in medical emergency

Experiential learning was very effective. 

• Be aware of my surroundings
• Help in first aid incidents
• Work as an individual and a team (if possible)

Clear and concise objectives.  (Course met) more than my individual expectations.  Very good.  Very insightful.  The instructors were great and had a wealth of very useful information.

• Be confident and correct in responding to an emergency
• Be more confident in reducing likelihood of an incident by advising colleagues

• Be more confident in a first aid situation
• Plan trips more carefully
• Carry more first aid equipment – on trips, but also in general

All excellent.  Very, very useful couple of days.

• Think !  (Logically)
• Be aware (or more aware) of surroundings
• More confidence in possibly helping or actually saving a ‘situation’.

The realisation that the instructors knew that we needed to be reminded was the most intuitive part.  Therefore I feel that by the last scenario we were all “getting into it” which should be the overall objective of the course.  If anything, the course should be a three day event, or I should ensure that I don’t wait so long to do the refresher course again!  It was all excellent and I am very happy to have been here again. Thank you all @ Centurion!!

• Will prepare more thoroughly before going out on stories
• Will feel confident I can assist in a medical emergency
• Will generally think more before performing tasks that could put me in danger

The First Aid training was excellent and invaluable.  Also the kidnapping scenario and the vehicle checkpoint.  The instructors have all been fantastic.  It wasn’t too serious or too laid back.  The subject could easily be overwhelming but the teaching methods have instead made it fun.

• How to respond in providing emergency first aid
• How to prepare for trips to potential hostile environments. What to prepare, how and what kit to take with me
• How to evaluate dangerous situations and take appropriate measures

• Last January when I was in Haiti I almost suffered from severe dehydration.  Not gonna happen again !
• In several riots I covered I took too many risks I wouldn’t be taking after what I learned
• I would not act the same ever again in checkpoints

A great bravo to all the staff.  You have a huge experience and explain very dramatic things with a very fine sense of humour the right thing to do.