Significance of our HEAT training courses

“I was sitting on my bed under the mosquito netting working on my laptop, when two men barged into my room and pointed their weapons at me and ordered me “come, come!”

It took a few seconds to realize that I was in danger. They were uniformed, so I assumed they were police, confused about who I was. But I immediately responded as I had been trained, without even thinking. I was back in Virginia, but this time it was for real. I will admit, though, I forgot about breathing.

Our entire team responded well. We all survived this 2-hour-long confrontation. They kept us all lying on the floor in the main room and took us out one-by-one to try to sort out who had money. They found the safe and once our office manager opened it and gave them the payroll, they were happy to lock us up in various rooms and confiscate our phones to prevent us for calling for help. Then they took everything of interest and left. Some of our staff suffered injuries, (choking, rifle butted on the head, being shoved to the floor) but no one needed medical attention.

We lost money and electronics, but we didn’t lose each other. Afterward we made a circle of prayer and thanked God for sparing our lives.

I can’t tell you how grateful I am for the training I received just before I left. Because I knew what to do, even though I didn’t understand Arabic, I wasn’t afraid. Because we were calm and non-confrontational, I felt confident we would be alright. And we were.

The work you do really does save lives.

I want to confirm, as well, that your simulations are very accurate and realistic. I almost had to keep reminding myself that these guys wouldn’t be saying “exercise over” smiling and shaking my hand. And your training is effective, because as startled as I was, my body and emotions responded appropriately before I could even think about it. So again, thank you, thank you, thank you”.