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Word of Mouth
"They're the industry leaders in training and protecting those of our staff working in harm's way. Even those of us who think we have nothing to learn have been humbled at the hands of AKE."
Chris Cramer
(Former) Managing Director, CNN International
"Without AKE's training, I'm convinced that [my colleague] Bengt wouldn't be alive today."
Stefan Borg
Foreign Correspondent, TV4 Sweden
“AKE Group has been an invaluable resource to us in dealing with complex security issues in some very challenging locations. You have not only responded to our requests quickly and effectively, your staff on many occasions has anticipated our needs and contacted us proactively. This personal focus really differentiates AKE Group from many other firms in the industry. We look forward to working with AKE Group in the future. As new circumstances challenge us we know you will be there to provide unparalleled support.”
Patrick Kane
Sr Director of Security, Atlas Air
"There are at least two children in Bosnia who owe their lives to this course."
Robert Adams
Freelance Journalist
"This course is worth several years of accumulated experience to even the most cynical and war weary journalist. It should be compulsory. AKE's course is concise, intelligently delivered and sorts out fact and reality from fiction and mythology. I came away from the course astonished that we had all survived without it."
Gary Knight
Freelance Journalist
"The risk awareness and medical components are well balanced, and not only provide the practical information required, but also serve as a sound psychological basis, strengthening journalists in knowing they can help each other and not stand by…The training deals with the real problems faced by all journalists."
Sarah de Jong
Human Rights and Safety Officer, International Federation of Journalists
“AKE has on a number of occasions been able to perform with highly skilled teams, on short notice and with a positive attitude that has served us and our customers exceptionally well. Besides protecting personnel and assets, the training aspects have been very well received. AKE's monthly Anti-Piracy reports and risk alerts have been first class and various commanders have complimented us to being able to have access to the information provided. It has according to them often contained information that hadn't yet been made available to them.”
Christer Sjodoff
Group Vice President, GAC Solutions
"Many thaks for your professional guidance in the minefield of high-risk insurance. You helped us through stage by stage so that even I understood what was needed. Ideal package that you individually suited to our company needs. Competitive cover with indiviudal service, thanks again."
Steve Birch
B&H Microsystems
"Very useful indeed, the first aid was outstanding, highly recommended."
Vaughan Smith
Producer, Frontline News Television Ltd
"I found the course thorough, comprehensive, and professional. I learnt a lot of new stuff which is useful in any environment, - hostile or not, but certainly no-one should go to a hostile environment these days without going on this course."
Tweli Griffiths
Senior Producer, HTV-Wales
"This course…is an essential requirement for the international field journalist."
Ron McCullagh
Managing Director, Insight News Television Ltd
"Over the past nearly twenty years I've reported from dozens of hot spots around the world and initially did not believe the course would be all that helpful. But, I was wrong. I found the Surviving Hostile Regions course to be instructive and insightful for everyone from the veteran to the first time war reporter."
Art Rascon
Anchor/Special Assignment Reporter
ABC-TV KTRK
Houston, TX
"AKE has worked wonders to significantly heighten the odds of CNN's journalists staying safe, healthy, and alive in the world's most dangerous places."
Eason Jordan
President of Global Newsgathering, CNN
AKE Special Risks considered all the risk factors for our team we deployed to **** and offered us terms on our insurance which saved us a lot of money. We were persuaded by AKE Special Risks to consider the longer term option for our insurance and these arrangements have served us well.
Justine Faram
October Films
"I found the Surviving Hostile Regions course very useful, particularly the first aid. If I ever find myself in a situation where someone has been wounded, at least I now feel somewhat equipped to do something that might save someone... it is very important - I can't bear to imagine being in a situation where a colleague (or anyone) was injured and you hadn't the first idea of how to help."
Sandra Jordan
Reporter
The Observer and Channel 4
"The AKE course I recently completed will be useful in future work as well in my personal life. There are many aspects of the course that can be applied to daily life, not just the places we find ourselves working in. I know I will refer back to the knowledge I have gained for years to come."
Rich Brooks
Senior Photographer, CNN Photo Pool
"The AKE Surviving Hostile Regions course is short on theatrics and Boys' Own tales of derring-do, and long on the theory and practice of how to stay out of trouble, and what to do when it all goes horribly wrong. The course's value lies in the way it heightens your awareness of hazards and risks, while combining that with emergency medical procedures and logistical ideas about what to do if you get stuck. I did a short AKE course in February 1994 and then another in June 2001. In the years in between, I've spent time in Chechnya, Bosnia, Albania, Kosovo, Northern Ireland and the Middle East. The latest course taught me lots of things I never knew and reminded me of plenty I've forgotten. If there's a better course for journalists then please tell me."
Chris Clark
Middle East Correspondent, ABC Australia
"AKE's Surviving Hostile Regions training course is crucial for anyone in conflict scenarios. It is a theoretical and practical program, pragmatic in its objectives, with sound medical and military information given by the best in the field…for those of us who have to make a living out in the field."
Amaro Gomez-Pablos
Correspondent, CNN
"As soon as the first session began, I realised I had taken risks in the past which I should not have done. I had once been caught in the middle of ball-bearing crossfire while covering a riot in Belfast, and was hit by a missile. I now have a much clearer grasp of how to get good actuality without becoming a victim myself. The week was intensively but creatively balanced between the theoretical and the pragmatic. In particular, it sharpened my medical awareness."
Michael Ford
BBC Radio 4
"The medical/first-aid information is really helpful, and wonderfully presented. At the end of the course you'll be ready to handle car accidents, mine explosions and also have a pretty good idea of how to avoid being hit in the head by a rock or tear-gas canister during a demonstration."
Jim Teeple
New Delhi Correspondent, Voice of America
"Just wanted to pass along how handy AKE's training was to me personally on a recent trip…[to]… a very remote area, with no outside communication…I had access to shoot a film [but] I was taken away, along with my camera [and] no translator. Maybe I should have been scared rigid but I never once felt out of control. I really wanted to tell him to get lost, and before your training I would have, but I just kept my mouth shut."
Bob Hilscher
Cameraman, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
"For sheer professionalism and attention to personal detail, AKE have to be the best. Out in the field, other security ‘experts' look lame in comparison."
Nic Robertson
Senior International Correspondent, CNN |
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