Between 20- 24 October 2014, the junior diplomatic trainees attended a course entitled: “Special Preparation for Emergency Situations”. This survival course, has been traditionally arranged for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs by the Training Command – Military Academy of the Armed Forces of the Czech Republic in Vyškov.

During the course the young diplomats gained practical skills necessary to ensure survival in emergency situations which they could possibly encounter in connection with their foreign duties.

What did the attendees of the course say about it?

Ondřej Hovádek

The special survival course was undoubtedly a very strong experience which I will remember for a long time. When I look back, I can see only the positive things and if I leave out all the practical things (and there were a lot of them) I learned primarily two things. The first is my admiration of how professional the Armed Forces and the Police in the Czech Republic are and the fact that I can always rely on them abroad. This also applies to the military psychologists who walked us through the whole course and represented some kind of a bridge between reality and situation in which we found ourselves during the course. It can be said, that after some time spent directly in the field with soldiers, I’m really proud of the Czech Armed Forces.

The second lesson I learned was about myself. Only after I reached my physical and psychological limits, I was able to recognize my intuitive behavior in emergency situations and then learned how to control it. Most people are unpleasantly surprised to learn how they react in the emergency situations, so I’m very happy that I had the opportunity to test myself under the supervision of true experts.

The special survival course is a perfect training tool and I’m glad that the Diplomatic Academy incorporated it into its program and I sincerely hope that the cooperation with Czech Armed Forces will continue at such high level.

Jaroslava Jebavá

Attending the special preparation course for emergency situations in Vyškov was in all aspects very beneficial. Even though I was very concerned about it long before the first day and although I had to clench my teeth many times during the course, retrospectively I’m very grateful that I had the opportunity to participate in it. The course was led by top-class experts who gave us a lot of practical information and experiences and prepared us for possible emergency situations that we could encounter during our life. During the course I had an opportunity to discover my strengths and work on my weaknesses and to learn where my physical and psychological limits are. The entire course was a huge achievement for me and I had to face a lot of challenges to which I would never face. Besides feeling much smarter; the course helped me to learn about myself, which is also very important to survive in emergency situations. I got the feeling that the course hardened me in certain ways but also showed me that no one can ever be careful enough. The best way to deal with emergency situations is to never underestimate the danger. The course was very strong and a priceless experience for me. I can only recommend it to others.

Ondřej Pavlík

Many times during the course I got into areas that were beyond of my comfort zone which wasn’t always comfortable. But it allowed me to get to know myself deeper and for that I’m immensely grateful to the military instructors. The chance to try various emergency situations, which we may experience during our foreign duty, is in my opinion priceless.