In September, we trained the medical team of the Hungarian Reformed Church Emergency Response Service in Hajdúszoboszló, Hungary. Our trainees were great people who willingly put themselves in danger to help others. The Response Service deploys to disaster hit places such as Afghanistan and Haiti, where humanitarian work is dangerous, and the context is often chaotic. The training focused on making decisions and working as a team under intense stress. Trainees participated in a simulation exercise, where they were unexpectedly taken hostage by a gang of armed criminals involved in the drug trade. According to the scenario trainees had to provide medical assistance to a gang member with a gunshot wound. Halfway through the role play they were encouraged to organize an escape using the gang member’s medical emergency as a cover story. The situation is controlled, but realistic: we worked with ex-counter terrorism and military officers with combat experience from the Budapest Shooting Range, who played the role of gang members. They exhibited behavior our trainees were likely to encounter in real life. The role play exercise was followed by a group debrief and discussion, where we helped trainees to understand and manage their reactions in similar, real-life situations. The processing sessions are always thought provoking. We usually receive a lot of positive feedback on the utility of the exercise. As one of our participants put it: "I never thought such human evil existed." We made sure that the moderated post-exercise discussion touched upon key concepts that often determine the outcome of risky situations in the field, including members’ responsibility towards the group, the role of self-esteem and finding the right balance between being submissive and assertive when communicating with adversaries.
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