Desktop Program
Hostile Environment Awareness Training (HEAT)
Next course: Wednesday 30 September 2026 | 09:30–15:30
Why face-to-face
Online learning informs. A room changes behaviour. In one focused day, your people work directly with Empire Institute instructors — questioning, challenging, and testing their judgement against real-world problems before they face them for real.
No travel to remote training sites. No week lost from the calendar. One day, properly used.
Morning — Build the foundation
The core training areas, instructor-led and shaped to your deployment context:
Situational Awareness · Security Context — Image & Acceptance · Trip Planning · Communications Protocols & Equipment · Field Preparedness & Evacuation · Critical Incident Stress · Navigation · Physical Security · Information Security · Incident Reporting
Afternoon — Pressure-test the judgement
Tabletop scenarios drawn from real incidents, selected against your group's risk profile. Your team makes the decisions; our instructors run the consequences. Scenario pool includes:
- Vehicle Checkpoints & Roadblocks
- Active Armed Assailant
- Crowds and Mobs
- Hostage and Kidnap Survival
- Basics of Negotiation
Every scenario ends in a structured debrief. What worked, what failed, and what changes before deployment.
The day at a glance
| Time | Session |
|---|---|
| 09:30 | Course open and threat picture |
| 09:45 | Core training areas — instructor-led theory |
| 12:30 | Lunch |
| 13:00 | Tabletop scenarios and structured debriefs |
| 15:15 | Course debrief and continuity plan |
| 15:30 | Endex |
Built around your operation
No two organisations face the same threat picture. Every program starts with a scoping conversation and is designed against your destinations, your people, and your mandate.
- Scoping conversation — we understand your operation and risk exposure
- Program design — content tailored to your context
- Delivery — one day, your venue or ours
- Debrief & continuity — findings, recommendations, and ongoing readiness support
Who it's for
Teams and leadership groups deploying to elevated or high-risk environments — NGO, media, energy, government, and corporate — who need more than e-learning but cannot release staff for a residential program.
Need the full pressure test?
When the destination demands it, the Fully Immersive program puts your people in a four-day residential environment with live scenarios and professional role-players.
