Travel Awareness
Understanding travel safety could very well save your life or the lives of others. Whether you are travelling abroad for business or leisure, awareness and security are two things which you cannot afford to lose sight of. While the majority of trips abroad are stress, worry and accident-free, it’s still crucial to not let your guard down.
Unfortunately, the reality is that incidents and hostile situations often occur if people are not taking adequate travel safety precautions, or not paying attention to what is happening around them.
In many cases, situations can be avoided by:
- Taking Gap Year or business travel safety and security courses.
- Learning how to use a travel first aid kit.
- Stocking up with useful travel safety products to only be used in emergencies.
- Undertaking self-defence training.
One of the most fundamental tips to stay safe abroad is to make sense of the principles of situational awareness, and utilise these skills correctly.
Situational Awareness
Situational awareness can be defined as, in the simplest terms, “knowing what is happening around you”. In a more technical sense, the principles of situation awareness include: perceiving nearby elements in your environment, understanding their significance, anticipating what could happen, and planning a contingency.
At ATR, we are travel awareness training providers, and incorporate fundamental principles of situational awareness and decision-making into our training courses. In terms of staying safe while travelling abroad, these principles are still valid.
8 Steps to Improve your Situation Awareness
- Perceive objects around you.
- Identify people nearby.
- Draw your attention to potential risks.
- Interpret the situation.
- Predict the actions of people around you.
- Anticipate how situations may evolve.
- Plan your response.
- Stay vigilant.
Following this, you can make much more informed decisions in terms of your travel safety. Ultimately you want to enjoy your trip, but the sheer volume and extent of some risks cannot be denied. To help you, we’ve outlined some further Gap Year and business travel safety tips.
Travel Safety Tips
- Find out about the area you’re travelling to.
Foreign travel advice from trusted organisations, such as the Foreign & Commonwealth Office website, is an excellent resource for safety and security information on wherever you are visiting. These resources will teach you about any particular areas to avoid where you’re travelling to, what to watch out for, as well as other personal security and safety steps you can take.
- Keep safe in your accommodation.
When it comes to personal safety, you need to ensure you’re secure in your accommodation. It’s advisable to keep your room locked at night, even when you’re inside. If you’re staying in a place where you don’t feel particularly safe, try and request a room where you can see who is outside your door.
- Do not take unnecessary risks.
Gap Year students and business travellers are both vulnerable to numerous risks and threats, without even being aware of them. By improving your travel risk awareness, you can identify these risks and avoid dangerous incidents from materialising. Essentially, don’t take any chances in unfamiliar places, which you wouldn’t usually take at home.
- Take extra precautions on the roads.
Road Traffic Accidents (RTAs) are prevalent causes of injuries to UK travellers. So it pays off to take extra care on the roads, and ensure you know what to do in a traffic accident. This is where a dedicated first aid training course in road safety could come in handy, as this will significantly improve your awareness, reactions and responses. What’s more, learning first aid skills can prepare you for treating casualties in an RTA.
- Don’t give away your accommodation address.
Don’t tell a stranger where you are currently staying, or what your travel plans are. Plan your daily itinerary to ensure you know your destination and how you can get back safely. If you feel uncomfortable or at risk, don’t hesitate to draw attention to yourself.
Interestingly, more people are likely to respond to cries of “fire!” rather than “help!”
Knowing What to do in an Emergency while Abroad
Depending on the nature of the emergency, whether it’s a first aid emergency or hostile situation, you may be able to get help from your accommodation provider, travel insurance provider, or the local police force.
If you are in Europe, the emergency services number is 112. If you’re outside Europe, find the number to call for emergencies and keep it stored in your phone.
Travel Safety Training and Products
ATR provide specialist travel safety training, products and additional services to help you stay safe while abroad. Our travel awareness courses can be tailored to fit your needs, with our trainers utilising consolidated law enforcement, military and UKSF experience to deliver effective scenario-based training.
Our travel safety products, combined with our in-depth situation awareness training, will keep you as safe as possible while enjoying your travel experience.
Book a course with ATR today.
ATR are not just specialist training and service providers, but for organisations & individuals that require authorised travel safety equipment, we have products available via our shop.