Domestic HEFAT Awareness Course – Overview

The Domestic HEFAT Awareness Course is a 16-hour training designed for journalists, visual storytellers, and newsroom professionals who occasionally work in hazardous, unpredictable, or high-stress environments within the United States. This course serves as an introduction to Hostile Environment and First Aid Training (HEFAT), offering foundational knowledge and practical guidance to help participants make safer decisions, reduce personal risk, and respond effectively to emergencies while on assignment.

Whether covering protests, natural disasters, crime scenes, or other volatile situations, participants will gain a stronger understanding of situational awareness, threat recognition, and basic medical response. This course is ideal for those who do not regularly deploy to conflict zones but may encounter physical, psychological, or digital risks in the course of their work.

Topics Covered:

• Understanding and applying situational awareness in dynamic or unpredictable environments
  
• Pre-assignment planning and personal risk assessment
  
• Recognizing and responding to civil unrest, crowd dynamics, and hostile behavior
  
• Introduction to trauma first aid, including bleeding control and scene safety
  
• Reacting to gunfire or active threat situations
  
• Digital security basics: protecting devices, data, and sources
  
• Managing stress, trauma, and psychological pressure on assignment
  
• Ethics and safety: balancing the duty to report with personal well-being
  
• Communication and check-in protocols during emerging or deteriorating situations
  
• Working safely during natural disasters and severe weather events
  

Participants will leave with increased confidence in their ability to anticipate risk, protect themselves, and make informed decisions under pressure—empowering them to report more safely and effectively, even when the unexpected happens.