Course Overview
Training staff in self-defence techniques has often been seen as the key to personal safety. However, it can be argued that as a strategy, such free-standing programmes increase, rather than decrease risk, for a range of reasons:
- The focus on interpersonal skills reinforces “blame cultures” and can increase the expectations imposed on trained staff
- They distract from the importance of agency practices, policies and cultures
- Research suggests that some staff simply freeze and are unable to respond in a crisis
- Insufficient practice time necessary to develop and maintain competence
- Programmes include too many overly complex techniques
- Lack of staff fitness or physical coordination
However, when delivered in the context of an organisation’s training strategy to staff identified through the process of Risk Assessment, training in techniques which allow the person to escape from an attack may increase safety.
It is therefore important that escape techniques are delivered in the context of a comprehensive organisational strategy addressing other factors which relate to behaviours that challenge.
The CALM Escape Techniques Course is designed to avoid the documented shortcomings of much training in this area.
The escape techniques are based on specific principles:
- All techniques are based on a single physical principle
- They are relatively simple
- Techniques are selected on the basis of a) effectiveness; b) flexibility
- They do not rely on size or strength
- They offer a range of curricula for high, medium, and low risk
