Hostile Environment Awareness Training (HEAT) is the primary strategy to prepare staff for travel and work in high-risk environments. NCA HEAT provides a practical approach to safety and security and aims to reduce risk by enabling and motivating the participants to take responsibility for their own security risk management.
HEAT courses include first aid, conflict resolution, negotiation techniques, mental training, hostage situations and more. Photo: Hanne Kristine Haarset.
The NCA HEAT is a 5-day residential course conducted regularly by the NCA Global Safety & Access Unit. The main objective of NCA HEAT is to empower and prepare humanitarian staff for working in high-risk environments and to survive critical and life-threatening situations. The course is very demanding physically and mentally, with long hours and high levels of stress in the training modules and realistic scenario exercises. The training is conducted in a safe and positive learning environment, with professional instructors present at all times.
The only way to prepare for the extreme, is to train with realistic levels of acute stress/fear in order to ensure transfer value to real life situations. At the same time, it is our duty to adjust the level of pressure to ensure that all participants feel a degree of mastery also when taken out of their comfort zone. There are no fixed standards to what learners are expected to achieve, as no individuals or situations are the same. Our goal is for each participant to grow and learn based on their level of experience, knowledge and resilience. We also make the necessary arrangements for participants with learning difficulties or trauma/injuries to ensure a good learning experience for all.
We teach principles and best practices, no hard truths. We encourage all personal inputs from learners in order to make the training as relevant as possible and continuously learn and improve from course to course.
2024:
11-15 March (Nairobi): Completed.
27-31 May (Oslo): Open for registration.
2-6 September (Oslo): Open for registration.
External participants, please use this link to apply for HEAT:
External Participant for HEAT training
Situational awareness:
How to detect and avoid potential threats when traveling/working in the field.
Survival mindset: How to mentally prepare for worst case scenarios and increase your chances of making it back to your loved ones.
Mental functioning in high-risk environments: How we can build personal resilience and manage our stress better when working in areas/operations with high levels of pressure.
First aid in the field: With a primary focus on preventing death from trauma, you will learn what you can do to save your own life or someone else’s when they have been critically injured, with little medical equipment and infrastructure available.
Conflict management: How to use active listening words and empathy to deal with aggression.
How attacks happen: What we can do to minimize the risk of targeted attacks.
Basic land navigation and wayfinding: How to find your way to safety if you are lost in the field. Personal Risk Profile, gender security and sexual violence.
Actions on: How to respond to armed attack/violence, explosive threats, and crime.
Hostage survival: How to respond if kidnapped/ abducted.
The cost for external participants is 2500 USD, which includes food and accommodation during the course. All other costs (travel, hotel before/after HEAT, insurance, etc is covered by the participant). Please use this link to apply for HEAT: