HOSTILE TRAINING

TRAINING IS ALWAYS SOMETHING THAT WE HAVE TIME FOR HERE AT AA, AND IT’S A COUPLE OF WEEKS SINCE BOYCIE RETURNED FROM AN EXHAUSTING SERIES OF COURSES. HE’S MOST DEFINITELY ONE OF THE AA CREW THAT PUTS IN THE HOURS AND EFFORT TO “CONTINUATION TRAINING” AND SHOWS US ALL THAT THERE’S ALWAYS SOMETHING NEW TO LEARN! IN HIS FIRST REPORT FROM THIS BUSY PERIOD HE ZONES IN ON HIS EXPERIENCES ATTENDING A HOSTILE ENVIRONMENT FIRST AID COURSE (HEFAC), RUN BY BLACK ONYX ACADEMY.

The Hostile Environment First Aid Course (HEFAC) was almost a last minute course for me; a friend who comes into my workplace asked if I was interested in taking part in the course, so I asked a few questions about what to expect. First I wanted to know where it was being held, that was easy he said as it was being held at .

Yes, sorry all, I can’t reveal where it was held but suffice it to say it was “somewhere” in the UK.

I also asked what sort of thing it would include and was told the basics of first aid plus things that would be of benefit their application in a “Hostile Environment”, and a Hostile Environment is basically anywhere you find yourself and where there is the threat of imminent danger or injury. This is the sort of course that members of the Press would undertake before going to a conflict zone or place of natural disaster. After a really short thought-process I happily accepted the offer of the course as I am always interested in learning new skills, but also as the place of work that I manage could have the potential to become a “hostile environment” in an absolute “worst-case” scenario.

It took me a week to gather together my gear as I was told that I would need a ballistic helmet, body armour and plates....this piqued my interest even more but happily my Templars Gear TPC plate carrier would do the job nicely along wth my surplus helmet which I sourced via Polease the Costumiers, Portsmouth, and huge thanks to Paul for getting it to me in time, would also be suitable for the course.

Inside the carrier nestled a pair of large surplus ballistic plates; the ballistic plates did not have to be “in date” as it was only training and they were there to restrict movement and provide the extra weight needed for the realism.

So, straight onto Day 1; after a drive to which was to be the venue for the course, I arrived and was greeted by Mark, one of the directors of the company providing the training. A short chat then lead to me being shown to the classroom, and soon after the lead instructor and Daz

ALSO ASKED WHAT SORT OF THING IT WOULD INCLUDE AND WAS TOLD THE BASICS OF FIRST AID PLUS THINGS THAT WOULD BE OF BENEFIT THEIR APPLICATION IN A “HOSTILE ENVIRONMENT”, AND A HOSTILE ENVIRONMENT IS BASICALLY ANYWHERE YOU FIND YOURSELF AND WHERE THERE IS THE THREAT OF IMMINENT DANGER OR INJURY” arrived.

As I had arrived in good time and we were waiting for other course members to arrive, I was offered a coffee and we went outside for a bit of a chat. The DS had served in a number of war and conflict zones, plus other operations around the world. I knew that I would really find the course interesting and chatting with the DS I knew there would be a physical element... Be careful what you wish for Boycie...

Putting In The Effort

Day 1 was predominantly based in the classroom and covered a number of first aid and medical lessons, equipment requirements, how and what to load in vehicles travelling to and in a hostile environment.

The first scenario we were presented with was that we were in a Red Zone area when a colleague had walked off for a meeting and hit an AP mine, resulting in him being badly injured. We had to quickly assess the situation, get to him and recover him back to the soft-skinned vehicle. This wouldn’t normally be much of a challenge, except the casualty was around 100m away and the DS had given us a time limit of when we had to recover him by.

The run out to the casualty wasn’t too bad, but the weight of the plates, helmet and the restriction of the plate carrier meant breathing was harder.

Our casualty, Scot, had to be treated and stabilised, got on a scoop stretcher and transported back to the vehicle. The team had three of us, myself, Chris and A.

We got Scot on the stretcher and the three of us picked him up and began moving at a quick pace. I don’t mind telling you that moving at that pace, with the weight and restrictions of the TPC for someone not used to that level of explosive exercise, I was soon feeling nearly ready to drop! On reaching the vehicle, I dropped to my knees to catch my breath for a few seconds and we then loaded Scot onto the vehicle and drove back to outside the classroom.

Holee heck, this was just Day 1 and when we got a drink, I said to the DS “That was a challenge!” and I

“DAY 1 FINALLY ENDED SOME 10 HOURS AFTER IT HAD BEGUN. AFTER A DRIVE HOME IT WAS TIME FOR HOMEWORK; TODAY’S EXERCISE WAS TO THINK OF A POTENTIAL HOTSPOT AND GATHER THE INFORMATION REQUIRED TO AID IN THE PLANNING OF A VISIT BY A REPORTER TO THAT AREA” got the reply “There’s plenty more of that to come!”

Over the course of the next four days this was certainly borne out, and Day 1 finally ended some 10 hours after it had begun.

After a drive home it was time for homework: today’s exercise was to think of a potential hotspot and gather the information required to aid in the planning of a visit by a reporter to that area. I, along with my “battle buddy” Mark, chose North East Finland. We went for this as tensions are building recently between them and Russia after Finland’s recent joining of NATO. We had to gather information on a number of subjects to allow us to plan and build the presentation to the “training group”. Once we had got the bulk of the information gathered and chatting over WhatsApp we wrapped up for the day, and I grabbed a muchneeded shower and hit the sack as it would be an early start to get back for Day 2.

Day 2 covered more first aid but was also layering on training on tourniquets and Israeli Dressings, alongside how to plan routes and what you would need to know in the hostile environment. Today would also be our introduction to more of the scenarios based on some of the DS’ experiences around the world. This consisted of lots of short scenarios all building on our training thus far.

Back in the classroom we were shown chest seals and then trained on how to decompress a tension pneumothorax, with lots of practice on the training dummy, followed by nasal airways, Guedal and Igel airways.

The day rounded off with a planning exercise in which Mark and myself were to plan a route between two points in-country. This, you might think, could be as easy as “whack it in the SatNav and hit GO!” But oh no! Far from that! Some parts of the planning would have to include the route, crossing rivers, alternative routes, medical facilities along the route, safe havens, escape routes etc. Around two hours later we wrapped up for the day and we headed back home to prepare for the next day and delivering our briefings.

Day 3 opened with our briefings and soon after we moved out to the exercise area, and the first exercise was with yours truly being selected as the security advisor.

Earlier in the day we’d been told about the zones in the conflict areas, with Green being regarded as an area which the risk of hostile action, whilst still possible, was at a low level. The Orange Zone was the next level of risk where hostile action was more likely, the Red Zone being the area where hostile action was highly likely and then the Black Zone which was the definite NO GO area.

SCENARIO… GO!

Back to the scenario and I chose to lead the group as I had been informed that we were going to a meeting in an area which may have been mined. We had parked our soft-skinned vehicle at a point and moved out on foot. All seemed to be going well but then we came across a natural barrier of large bales. After careful checking I selected a crossing point and the group began to move over a wide open area, spaced out at around 15m from each other (the normal space when traversing an area suspected to be mined).

A few minutes after crossing the barrier three members of the group, including myself were moving over the open area when we heard a large bang. It was a simulation of either a mine-strike or In-DirectFire (IDF), so we all followed the immediate action and got on our belt buckles! I called out for any injuries and was pleased to hear all okay. After a “soak period” I had to assess the situation and make a decision on what to do next. I decided that we would move back to the vehicle and extract ourselves from the area.

Just as the three of us who had got across the bale barrier got back to it and were crossing it into cover, all of a sudden we were subjected to simulated IDF we then had to assess and treat the casualty and get them on the vehicle and back to the safety of our “building”.

Time for a break, revision and assessments and back out to the exercise area for another scenario. It was the same for the rest of the day and the next day, we went through more scenarios and assessments with the roles and assignments changing between us students.

One noteable exercise later in the week: This time we parked up some 150m or so from the bales and briefed. Mark was selected as the security advisor,

CHOSE TO LEAD THE GROUP AS I HAD BEEN INFORMED THAT WE WERE GOING TO A MEETING IN AN AREA WHICH MAY HAVE BEEN MINED. WE HAD PARKED OUR SOFT-SKINNED VEHICLE AT A POINT AND MOVED OUT ON FOOT. ALL SEEMED TO BE GOING WELL BUT THEN…” with myself as the reporter, “A” next and followed by Scot, the photographer and Chris was the fixer.

We moved out with Mark telling us to maintain the 15m spacing as his brief indicated that we were in an Orange Zone which had recently been liberated. The area to our left was reported to be mined and the only “safe area” was on our right side.

We moved off and after a while we approached the bales. Mark got us to “take a knee” whilst he went to find and recover an unknown article. He called us forward and we all began to search. Mark and Chris went to the other side of the bales and soon after “BOOM!” We had experienced a “mine strike” and this time Chris was hit by “frag” resulting in a chest wound. It was decided that “A” would be sent to get the vehicle to speed up the extraction. “A” was on the way back to the group on foot as the keys were not able to be found when he was “hit by small arms” and received a lower torso wound!

As Scot and Mark were dealing with Chris, I made the dash to get to “A” and assess him. I was told that he had a “gut shot” and there was a seep of blood from a small entry wound. This was assessed as having hit the liver so after dressing the wound I had to drag him so far and then support “A” to walk further as it would have been impossible for me to drag him all the way to cover.

During this period Mark was then hit by frag, leaving Scot to make the decision to get to the Ambulance to get us all out. Myself and “A” got into cover then were “pinned down” by IDF and small arms fire. Shortly later Scot appeared carrying the scoop. Somehow he’d managed to gain access to the ambulance and recover the scoop. We decided that I would leave “A” as he was “T4” and we both went back for Mark and Chris. It was when we got back to the last location that Chris and Mark were to find Chris had gone. We got Mark back to “A”’s location then went back to try and find Chris. We returned to where “A” and Mark were then Endex was called. We then boarded the vehicle and made our way back to the classroom for a debrief.

A New Appreciation

Even over the 30 minutes or so that we were on that specific exercise, it gave me a lot more of an appreciation of how things can “go south” rapidly when in this sort of environment and brought to mind one of the videos that the one of the DS had shown us earlier in the course of him dealing with mass casualties in Ukraine.

It was later in the day that he told us that the others in the video we watched had all fallen in battle, and this video was less than a year old. In Ukraine and other hostile environments, there is no endex to be called when at a certain point. Every second matters in treatment and it takes a long time to evacuate a casualty/casualties.

We had a number of further scenarios on the Friday, followed by the final assessments and a full debrief. We were given the good news that everyone had passed the course and it was time to relax, de-kit with any equipment that had been on loan for the course, load our cars up and then make our farewells before most headed for home.

Not for Boycie though as I had to then make a 200 mile trip down to Basildon to attend the UKPSA/NROI Range Officers’ Seminar, but more on that in a future article…

I have to say the huge physical demands of the course took a bit of a toll on me. I was the oldest on the course by seven years (including the DS!), but despite this I still achieved a lot both personally and professionally. I learnt a great deal and also increased the knowledge and confidence that I have when dealing with First Aid situations which will be of great use if I ever have to use my skills and knowledge out in the real world. The qualification we were awarded lasts for three years and I know that I will seriously look at returning to refresh when the qualification period is running out, and if there is the chance to further my training and experience then that I will always look at.

I would really like to thank Shaun for offering me the place on the course, Glenn for allowing me the time off work to attend the course, to Daz and Mark of Black Onyx Academy for providing the course and to Scot, Mark, Chris and “A” for being my coursemates. If it hadn’t been for them all, I may well have not made it to the end of the course!

If you get any opportunity to attend a first aid course, at any level, then I would honestly say “Go for it!” You really don’t know when you may need it. You being able to step in and help can make all the difference to an individual’s life, not only just to that individual but also their family or even one of your own family members. I hope that all those who I met on the course stay safe in whatever they do and wherever they find themselves after the course.

If you want to know more and possibly enquire about signing up to a future course then please check out www.blackonyxacademy.com AA

“IF YOU GET ANY OPPORTUNITY TO ATTEND A FIRST AID COURSE, AT ANY LEVEL, THEN I WOULD HONESTLY SAY “GO FOR IT!” YOU REALLY DON’T KNOW WHEN YOU MAY NEED IT. YOU BEING ABLE TO STEP IN AND HELP CAN MAKE ALL THE DIFFERENCE TO AN INDIVIDUAL’S LIFE”