QUESTION:

In the area of protection, the word integrity equates to loyalty to your principal.  In other words, integrity does not necessarily mean honesty, truth, or the American way.  Of course, as you conduct your duties, or in the event that an incident occurs that brings you into contact with and are questioned by law enforcement authorities, you must always be honest when queried.  Should you fail to answer law enforcement’s questions truthfully, you could be charged with a crime, thus prohibiting you from continued work in your chosen field.

From the perspective of the private life of your principal, he or she is entitled to complete and absolute confidentiality.  Thus:  “You are protecting a celebrity principal, and in the course of an evening out on the town, your boss tells you to take him to an address that belongs to a young woman who has joined him in the back seat of the limo.  The next two hours later the detail heads for the principal’s home and the interim shift takes over.  You report for duty as usual around noon and the principal’s spouse asks you a direct question: “Last night, when you were protecting my husband, did you see him with another woman? Has he cheated on me?”

1. Mrs. Brown, I would not be able to tell you if even if I knew.

2. Mrs. Brown, that is a question you should ask your husband, not me.  His marital or extra marital activities is not my concern.  I am paid to protect him.

3. Mrs. Brown, I have never seen your husband involved with another woman.

4. Mrs. Brown, I wish you had not asked me that question.  I have to be honest and tell you he has been unfaithful many times.

What is your answer?

Location: San Francisco, CA

Salary: $ 61,000

Posted: December 13, 2008

For more info click on this link: Job Alert

Location: London, UK

Salary: N/A

Posted: December 18, 2008

For more info e-mail: mike@00security.co.uk

As a former Emergency Medical Technician and Rescue Diver, I have seen first aid and trauma kits of varying sizes, shapes and colors that included enough equipment to operate a MASH unit at the site of a catastrophe for a month.  On the other hand, the most experienced flight nurse/combat medic I’ve ever known once said that if he had a 2X2 bandage and a pair of rubber gloves, he was “good to go” for almost any occasion.  This illustrates that it’s the “carpenter and not the tools” that usually gets the job done, and thus competent, recurrent training becomes an essential component in the protection specialist’s toolbox. 

In a protective detail, every one of the members should be current in their first aid, CPR and AED.  However, at least one member of the detail should have advanced training and be able to operate under a physician’s direction/protocols if the need arises. Additionally, they should be familiar with the protectee’s medical profile so that they understand what types of treatment s/he might require on a day-to-day basis.  The responsibility that comes with this includes a knowledge of and compliance with various confidentiality regulations including the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA, Title II) http://www.hhs.gov/news/facts/privacy.html  .  In other words, if the protectee shares personal medical information with you as a part of your duty, you are now legally bound to keep it confidential.

Basic first aid and CPR training can be acquired through either the American Heart Association http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=3011774

or the American Red Cross http://www.redcross.org/SERVICES/hss/courses/ .

Protection personnel who want additional training in the United States can contact their local fire departments, EMS service, their family physician or local colleges that offer emergency medical training, for information and discussion about what programs would best support their career goals.  Advanced training is also available online through organizations such as FEMA and the Fire Services Emergency Training Institute.

In the United States, there are three generally-accepted levels of pre-hospital care training that are nationally recognized (excerpted http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos101.htm). These certifications require extensive classroom and clinical exposure:

 EMT - Basic

Coursework consists of about 120 hours of classroom and ten hours of hospital internship, and emphasizes emergency skills, such as managing respiratory, trauma, and cardiac emergencies, and patient assessment. Formal courses are often combined with time in an emergency room or ambulance. The program provides instruction and practice in dealing with bleeding, fractures, airway obstruction, cardiac arrest, and emergency childbirth. Students learn how to use and maintain common emergency equipment, such as backboards, suction devices, splints, oxygen delivery systems, and stretchers. Graduates of approved EMT-Basic training programs must pass a written and practical examination administered by the State certifying agency and/or the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians (NREMT).

EMT - Intermediate

Training requirements vary by State; the nationally defined levels (EMT-Intermediate 1985 and EMT-Intermediate 1999) typically require 30 to 350 hours of training based on scope of practice. Students learn advanced skills such the use of advanced airway devices, intravenous fluids, and some medications.

EMT- Paramedic

Paramedics receive training in anatomy and physiology as well as advanced medical skills. Most commonly, the training is conducted in community colleges and technical schools over 1 to 2 years and may result in an associate’s degree. Such education prepares the graduate to take the NREMT examination and become certified as a Paramedic. Extensive related coursework and clinical and field experience is required. Refresher courses and continuing education are available for EMTs and paramedics at all levels.

Other valuable training that is available above the level of basic first aid, and may be offered in your area include custom First Responder programs (30-40 hours), EMT-Wilderness and EMT-Tactical programs, which can run between 40 and 80 hours each. Depending on where you envision your career or your protectee taking you, you might investigate any of these options. An excellent course on Tactical Treatment of Gunshot Wounds is available through Defense Training International at: http://www.defense-training.com/courses/tacmed.html

But remember, your primary contribution to the continued health of your protectee/ patient begins long before you recognize the need for treatment.  Your very “first” aid is to establish a confidential relationship with the protectee that will enable you to identify pre-existing conditions that could lead to a medical emergency. Consider a “near miss” that we experienced in our nation’s capital a few years ago:

“Due to threatening correspondence received, and heightened adverse media exposure relating to a new drug our company was putting on the market, security had been increased for several executives who were traveling to major cities and participating in conventions and public conferences.  In a by-the-book security advance, we had met with Washington DC police and local security personnel to ensure safety of our routes, vehicles and venues, and had agreed to meet the covered executive in the lobby in preparation for departure.  Adorned in our tuxedos, we were fairly confident (as confident as you dare to get) that we had covered all of the bases and could perform our mission satisfactorily.  When I emerged from the elevator, I was stunned to see our protectee sitting on a luggage cart in the middle of the lobby, sweating profusely and tugging at his collar. He was telling one of the other executives in attendance that he didn’t feel well and that he couldn’t catch his breath. The co-worker was telling him to ‘go to your room and have a drink…you’ll feel better later’.

I immediately called my partner, who at the time was an EMT-I and served as our team medic.  As he began his assessment, he asked the protectee a number of questions including, ‘are you allergic to anything?’  The protectee responded that he was in fact seriously allergic to peanuts, and after a moment’s thought he surmised that he might have accidentally ingested some in a cookie off a buffet line moments earlier.  My partner then asked if he had his prescribed epinephrine with him, and upon hearing that the ‘stick’ was left at home on his dresser, looked at me and said ‘This is a load-and-go”.

Rather than wait for the emergency squad, we immediately transported the principal to GWU hospital in the car we had waiting outside, along a route we had already advanced.”

“First Aid vs. Second Aid”

In the end, the executive was treated with drugs and was able to return to his hotel room that night.  Had he taken the advice of his co-worker and gone to his room, we might have lost him, thus I credit my partner with a ‘save’ that night.  The skills he offered were a quick identification of a medical emergency, and a competent application of response protocols for an incident of this nature.  All of that was ‘second aid’.  The first aid he provided was the training, education and experience that he had sought out over the preceding years, and the inclusion of a potential medical emergency in our security advance.   

When attempting to build a medical profile for your protectee, keep in mind that a) they may consider this an invasion of their privacy and thus none of your business, b) they may not want protection at all, and the fact that you ask for this information may send them over the edge, and you back to the Board of Directors (or their publisher or their business agent) with an empty notebook.  So, there may be a limit as to what information you can get and what you can’t. Suffice to say, that trust is the key. If you can carefully explain to your Principal the importance of considering pre-existing medical conditions as just as serious a threat as abduction or assault, the executive may cooperate. Always assure them that medical history information will remain tightly confidential. When conducting an interview of this nature, unless you’re a qualified healthcare provider, I would recommend that you use a prepared form that identifies critical information that may be of value to your protective mission; similar to this: http://www.harvardvanguard.org/info/AdultMedicalHistory.pdf

Working with your client’s healthcare provider or company nurse, you should construct your own forms, so as to avoid any copyright issues, and to exclude ultra-personal questions that probably don’t apply to your mission.  Access to this form then becomes on a strict need-to-know basis, and all personnel need to be admonished that any release of this information will seriously damage their client’s interests and compromise your entire protection program.  Make sure that you have 24-hour contact information for the protectee’s physicians and specialists and that you have ample supplies of any prescription medications. This becomes increasingly important when traveling abroad, as some medications we use in this country are not available overseas. Or if offered abroad, they may not be offered at the proper strength, or could be diluted, adulterated or counterfeit. Check with your protectee’s physician as well as the WHO and CDC to see what kinds of medical issues you may face when you land.

Your Kit

Regardless of how elaborate your emergency medical kit is to be, there are probably some things that are bare essentials. As a matter of fact, we recommend the same kit for firearms instructors who may face trauma injuries on the line:

• 1) Body substance isolation pack; basically latex or nitrile gloves, a disposable HEPA mask and eye protection.
• 2) Disposable CPR barrier or collapsible mask.
• 3) A nasal trumpet; standard nasopharyngeal airway to be used to establish an airway, especially in the event of a mouth or jaw injury.
• 4) Israeli Battle Dressing; http://www.ps-med.com/bandage/description_fcp01.html
• 5) Angiocath; http://www.bd.com/infusion/products/aag.asp helps to re-establish breathing after a pneumothorax injury and will require specialized training by medical professionals prior to you acquiring or using it.
• 6) Medicines or treatments specific to the protectee.
• 7) Equipment or supplies indicated by the environment or venue (eg, splints or cervical collars if spinal/skeletal injuries are possible, poison ivy blocker and ointment if traipsing through the woods etc).

Terms With Which to Be Familiar

In your state or country, your occupation as a protection specialist may place you in a category of being a “professional rescuer” and as such, you may need to be aware of certain legal requirements.  Below are some frequently used terms that you should understand so that you recognize how they pertain to your employment situation. These terms are covered in detail in emergency medical training programs. However, if you are unfamiliar with them, you should discuss your occupational requirements with your family attorney to ensure that you jeopardize neither your client’s safety nor your wallet:

Consent

Before you touch or treat a conscious, adult patient, you must first obtain their permission. If they are under 18 (US) or mentally compromised, you must obtain consent from their parent or legal guardian. If the patient is unconscious, then consent is usually implied.

Duty to Act

If you are assigned to a protection detail, your mission elements include the “prevention of medical emergency” and you therefore have a “Duty to act”. Failure to provide a suitable standard of care could result in charges of negligence.

Standard of Care

Use the skills that you have acquired competently and don’t exceed the level of your training. Don’t perform invasive or experimental procedures unless you have the correct diploma on the wall.

Abandonment 

If you begin treatment on a patient, you are legally obligated to continue treatment until you are relieved by a better-qualified provider, unless the patient tells you to stop, or you are physically unable to continue. If you abandon a patient, you can be charged with negligence.

Negligence

The basis for many lawsuits, this term is not easily explained to the average person. In general terms, it can be defined as a failure to act properly.

Know Before You Go!

The consideration of medical emergencies should be a valid part of any protection specialist’s advance work. And, like any of our other specialized training, we need to be trained early and often by competent instructors.  When you begin an advance, always make sure that your team’s first aid/CPR cards are current and that they have been briefed on any potential medical issues that the protectee may face.  Also ensure that everyone in the party is properly immunized consistent with the needs of the mission and the recommendations of the CDC: http://wwwn.cdc.gov/travel/contentVaccinations.aspx

Remember; an AOP doesn’t have to be a big guy with a gun…it can be a germ with an attitude.

Rick Colliver is the program developer and lead instructor in the Principal Protection program at the Ohio Peace Officer Training Academy and is an adjunct instructor in protective operations in several police, military and academic organizations. He is also the global security director for a multi-national corporation with operations in 24 time zones, and has managed protection details in Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas.

In her post Lazy People, she shares her thoughts on laziness and it really, really struck a chord for me.

I must tell you, I have a pet peeve; poorly written or form letters. Sending the wrong letter in haste can do more harm than good. Don’t be lazy.

Be sure to check the appropriateness of your letter to its recipient. It appears that many individuals wishing to obtain employment in the executive protection field are failing to conduct due diligence. “Due diligence” means conducting the advance work and investigation required to craft a suitable cover letter to a particular individual or firm. The cover letter is the very first impression that you are making on an individual who is doing the hiring. If you cannot provide an appropriate and suitable cover letter, you have already failed your first detail. You simply will not be contacted for an interview.

Without a doubt, taking the time to craft each cover letter and resume specific to each recipient is time consuming, but it’s better to send 20 well-done and appropriate letters than to send 40 that make you look incompetent! 

Make several different templates, and save them, to make things easier. For example: you could write a general letter of introduction as one type of letter, and save it as “General”. A second letter could be specifically geared towards “Entertainment” executive protection. A third could be “Corporate” executive protection. The cover letters will all be slightly different, and you can make further minor adjustments as needed. Perhaps you want a letter just for talent managers you’ve found in The Celebrity Black Book, and another for those individuals you are contacting directly. 

You will also want to make adjustments to your resumes so that your MOST RELEVANT experience is at the top (to go along with the specific cover letter.) I know individuals who have 2-3 different resumes they use-depending on the primary scope of duties for various positions. That is not uncommon for professionals in all fields.

Determine the appropriate gender and spelling of names and businesses to whom you send correspondence. Misspelling a name signals that you didn’t do your homework. Whenever possible, reference the position for which you are applying in the cover letter.

Go the extra mile and learn a little about the individual (if you are sending your materials directly to someone who is indeed has “achieved a degree of wealth” and who has a “VIP status”). Learn something about the current bodyguard/EPS. What are his/her skills? See what can be learned about the protectee. What does the protectee need/want and what can you offer over the competition? 

If contacting a placement firm or headhunter, see what you can learn about the principals of the company. It is so simple now to access information on virtually any business. Keep a file on a company or individual for whom you’d like to work! Jot down notes. Visit their website frequently to see what’s new, to learn about staff changes, new branch openings, coursework, or volunteer opportunities. 

Lastly-don’t use the form letters that are floating around out there. We’ve seen them all. We recognize them. Anyone who has been in the business hiring EP talent for even a few years knows immediately when you’re using a form letter. It reveals that you didn’t take the time or care enough to write an original letter. Since the cover letter is the first impression you make, why would you want to give the impression that you aren’t imaginative or clever enough to write a cover letter? This is your chance to show not only that you are bright and capable, but also something of your personality and attitude. 

If you need help writing your cover letter, then by all means do that-asking for help in areas where you may not be strong is a smart move. Remember, in this business you are protecting property, someone’s life and also your own. It is crucial to demonstrate that you are better, faster, and smarter than the competition. It all begins with your cover letter and resume!

Location: Lansing, MI

Salary: N/A

Posted: December 12, 2008

For more info click on this link: Job Alert

By: Sean Spellecy

Smile Bodyguard Smile…

No Neck, No Smile, Intimidating Stare, Mean Looking, No Smile, etc… Sound familiar? It is the way bodyguards have been described for years. It is time we changed the way we look. I own a personal protection agency in Tulsa, Oklahoma and one of the first things I look for in a prospective agent is the ability to smile. Why you ask? Are not bodyguards supposed to scare people off without even so much as a movement? Do we not want people to intimidate just on a glance, a glance that tells any would be threat that coming near our asset would be a mistake? The answer is of course we do!

However, the problem rests in being mindful enough to turn it on and off. The “Bodyguard Industry” needs rejuvenation and reinvention and it starts with a smile. What we have done here in Tulsa, and what will be replicated throughout the country in the next two years is not just learning the importance of smiling. However, it does lend itself to the recipe for our success. “Smiling” lets your client know that you have a personality, that you know how to enjoy life, and most importantly, you are confident in who you are and what you are doing.  Does the ability to smile make up for the ability to recognize a dangerous situation beforehand? How about the ability to disarm a threat, or move your asset through a hostile crowd? Absolutely not. Yet, I have had men and women through my door (and then out again) that I am sure could handle themselves quite well.

They just never smiled!

Location: Flagstaff, AZ

Salary: $45K-$49K

Posted: December 3, 2008

For more info click on this link: Job Alert

By: R. E. Rick Colliver

Let’s face it; we all like gear! More importantly, we like the kind of gear that the high-speed operators endorse. Whether we intend to use it every day in a demanding environment, or throw it in the trunk of our car “for that day”, we want to know that we are using what the experts recommend.  We are proud of our gear, and we want our peers to know that we wear, carry or shoot, only the finest. Many of us have seen (or owned) the T-shirt that says “If you die first, we’re splitting up…”; enough said.

However, when working in the often-misunderstood field of protective operations, calling attention to our gear is usually a mistake. It lets others know who we are, and it often alienates or worries the very people we are assigned to protect.  If we think back to the principal focus of a protective mission, it is not only to prevent the intentional or unintentional injury to the protectee, but also to prevent embarrassment. And, protection can only be successful if the protectee and their organization are cooperative and engaged.

In combat theatres or high-profile presidential events, the public expects to see guns and gear. However, the vast majority of protective details are carried out by one or two agents (protection specialists) and are successful due to the invisibility of the security advance work.  Often the protectee’s chief concern is to not to appear to be “protected”, and they are therefore reluctant to have you stand too close or in any way impede their ability to look strong and independent in front of their constituents or friends.

When temporary protective details are deployed for workplace violence incidents, the number-one concern of human resources professionals is “we don’t want to see any guns…guns will alarm the employees!” But, what if the nature of the threat overwhelmingly indicates the necessity for firearms or other “hard” equipment, such as a recent case:

“An employee was discharged for making specific threats to the management and other employees of their facility, which included the use of a high-powered rifle to eliminate members of the workforce systematically. A quick background check revealed that the suspect employee did, in fact possess a firearms ownership permit for his state.  It also revealed that he had completed annual rifle marksmanship qualifications on a previous job.   These facts combined with our consulting psychologists’ opinion that the suspect may not have been “joking around”, as he had put it, but may in fact harbor some deep resentment that, under the right circumstances could be acted upon, heightened the threat profile even further”.

When an assessment indicates that the defined or design basis threat is a scoped rifle in the hands of a qualified operator, it would be foolish to prepare for this by stationing an armed private security guard at the front gate.  Even the best SWAT operators have difficulty delivering accurate fire with a handgun past 75 feet in low-light conditions; especially if their target is concealed, moving, or already shooting back.  Add to this scenario the fact that the referenced manufacturing facility was a well-lit island of light, surrounded on three sides by wooded tree-lines. When you factor in the 200 to 500 yard stand-off range or worry zone created by a seasoned rifleman, you quickly determine that you have opened hunting season on the uniformed security guards and the employees who take smoke-breaks under the designated light poles.

This is but one situation where a legitimate need for long-arms has been established by the threat assessment, but because of the prevailing politically correct environment, has been shunned by non-protection decision makers.  In other words, the protectees want or need protection, but they don’t want anyone to know how you’re protecting them. And, Heaven forbid, that you would dare to bring a firearm in to their “No Guns” site; despite the fact that the only constant in every workplace mass shooting in the last twenty years is that ubiquitous-but-impotent sign on the door.

Therefore, the security teams we use in the field often “gear-down” to mimic the environment in which they are operating.  When protection teams check-in to hotels, they are dressed similarly to other guests and carry only baggage that is similar to what the other guests carry.  If the hotel is a resort property, tennis and golf bags can effectively conceal long arms.  In an academic or social venue, we find that musical instrument cases often fill the need.  With very little retro-fitting, guitar cases and golf bags will hold most M-4’s and tactical shotguns. A padded trombone bag can hold two M-4’s or similar sized rifles.  And, depending on the make of the bag, padded tenor and baritone sax bags will comfortably accommodate most .308 assault rifles with folding stocks and optics. Tennis bags work fine for pistol grip shotguns, Beretta Storm carbines and the FN P90/PS90. However; be safe and measure before you buy.

In the workplace violence scenario described above, tool boxes, paint cans, plastic tubs or other maintenance-related containers concealed the team’s hardware, without drawing unnecessary attention to the mission.  Containers to avoid would obviously include specialized gear bags and equipment in black, OD or coyote tan, clip knives or black tactical boots that signal everyone “I’m on the job”.  Other parts of your wardrobe to leave at home might be those flight jackets with tell-tale unit patches and insignia.

When your attire and mannerisms reflect the local demographic, you find yourself “flying beneath the RADAR”. This enables your team to provide discreet, but effective protection; a measured response to a perceived or anticipated threat, without alarming others or calling attention to your presence.

– Photos follow –

Rick Colliver is the program developer and lead instructor in the Principal Protection program at the Ohio Peace Officer Training Academy and is an adjunct instructor in protective operations in several police, military and academic organizations. He is also the global security director for a multi-national corporation with operations in 24 time zones, and has managed protection details in Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas.

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