6 Tips to Prevent you Becoming Drunk

How to out think any drinker

A drinking culture exists in many countries, even those with strict prohibition in place. 

A drinking culture, by definition, means customs and practices involved with consuming alcohol. Whether we talk about the French, who drink to savour the flavour; the Phillipines, where an opened bottle must be finished; Australia where binge drinking is glorified; or Spain, where workers enjoy a beer with a brandy chaser for brunch, drinking is socially acceptable.

 Despite this acceptance, the consumption of alcohol can have negative effects on a person. Common effects include impaired judgement, distorted vision, memory loss and decreased coordination. As a non- drinker, you can take advantage of these short term effects on your drinking companions. But how do you drink with them, without getting drunk?

6 tips to prevent you becoming drunk

  1. Eat a quantity of fatty foods before drinking alcohol. Whether you eat bread and butter or ice cream, fatty foods will inhibit inebriation.
  2. Pay the barman to control the drinks: large quantities for the target; smaller quantities for yourself, but the same volume of mixer
  3. Lift the glass to your lips but only sip the drink
  4. Proactively refill the target’s glass once it becomes half full
  5. Mix a teaspoon of active dry yeast ( containing the ADH enzyme)  with plain yogurt and swallow. Ideally, one teaspoon per 350ml of drink before you start.
  6. Take 300mg of  Dihydromyricetin ( hovenia dulcis extract) and neutralise the effects of alcohol intoxication.

 

H.E.A.T. tip: Hold a glass of sparkling water, with ice and lemon, by your side. This suggests a self- confident drinker but you will always be sober.

Learn the art and practice of elicitation at one of our H.E.A.T. courses and outwit your competitors.

 

6 Ways to Survive Nuclear Fallout


The end of the Cold War in the late 1980s did not mean an end to hostilities. Today, Russia is overhauling its nuclear triad ( submarines, bombers and missiles) and has 7000 warheads. The United States us following suit and has 6800 warheads. North Korea might only have 15 warheads but it has a very shaky finger hovering over its nuclear button.

Over the past few years, the problem has not been the size of the world’s nuclear arsenal. The problem has been the easy access to the knowledge and technology required to build a missile. Imagine being a highly qualified expert in nuclear, biological and chemical warheads and working for  the Soviet regime. You are sacked in June 1991 without a pension. Or, imagine that you are the manager of a scrapyard in the  Ukraine and see Russian missile technology dumped in the yard. You are offered cash for this scrap.

 The North Koreans have exploited both scenarios to acquire working parts and the expertise to build a missile. The recent launch of a missile screened on North Korean television showed a missile powered by an outdated but reliable Soviet RD-250 engine.

6 ways to survive nuclear fallout.

  1. Understand that fallout refers to the radioactive particles that fall to earth after a nuclear explosion.
  2. Exposure to any type of fallout is hazardous to your health. So, you must ensure that you do not come into contact with any radioactive ash, dust or rain.
  3. Fallout emits the highest levels of radiation for the first six hours after the detonation. Outside of the immediate blast zone, fallout can take over 15 minutes to drop down onto the earth.
  4. Get inside a solid shelter and move to its centre.
  5. Remove all contaminated clothing and wash yourself down.
  6. You can eat and drink packaged food items or foodstuffs that were inside the building before the fallout arrived.

H.E.A.T. tip: North Korea’s Hwasong -15 intercontinental ballistic missile has a range of 13 000km. Buy a NBC suit.

Learn to handle the hazards of a nuclear blast by attending one of our courses.

 

6 Pieces of Kit to Reclaim your Privacy

For every eavesdropping bug, telephone tap and spy camera  sold, there are probably 30 people or more who suspect that they are under surveillance.

The Information Age has brought many benefits to humanity and has provided unique opportunities for making our lives more convenient and comfortable. Unfortunately, this convenience and comfort comes at a price. The expectation of our right to  everyday privacy has disappeared and the Electronic Invasion is impacting on our private lives and business affairs at an accelerating pace.

More and more corporate travellers are finding themselves the target of hostile surveillance by government agencies, organised crime and unscrupulous competitors. Hidden cameras monitor our daily activities in malls, banks and hotels. Business meetings are recorded, people covertly filmed and vehicles tracked to help burglars know when your home is empty.

Although many people think that surveillance devices only exist in James Bond and other fictional works, a brief internet trawl shows how easily one can acquire and learn to use such devices simply and quickly. 

6 pieces of kit to reclaim your privacy

  1. If you suspect that you are under surveillance, from a government agency or private firm, call in a professional TSCM ( aka ” sweep”) team to check your communication systems.
  2. Use a mobile phone jammer to prevent the inadvertent or deliberate misuse of your phone.
  3. Given the proliferation of mobile phones, consider deploying an audio jammer at your next staff meeting. By generating a random masking sound that disrupts microphones, your conversations will not be monitored or recorded.
  4. You can ruin any radio signal by emitting white noise in the room. Also known as a  “cocktail tape”, these random sound recordings disrupt the eavesdroppers ability to record your communications.
  5. Protect yourself from a home invasion by jamming the GPS/ GLONASS system in the gps device in your car. These jammers are illegal in the United States but not elsewhere( yet) and work in most cities where there is in an Uber driver.
  6. Locate covert cameras with a laser- based video camera finder. Once the pocket- sized laser detects a hidden video camera lens, the lens glows. This can be viewed and identified by a glow visible in the device’s viewfinder.

There are many new ways to spy on private citizens and companies. Learn about these threats and how to counter them on one of our H.E.A.T. courses.

H.E.A.T.tip:

If you find a transmitting device in your boardroom, replace it’s battery with a weaker one. Wait and see who comes into the boardroom to fix the ” problem”. 

 

 

What to do when a colleague drops dead when you are working together

The repatriation of a corpse involves body preparation, paperwork, certificates and the  transportation of the coffin or ashes to the home country and its final destination. You might have to handle the while process. Here’s how…

If someone you work with dies suddenly or unexpectedly whilst you are abroad, you should know what to do. Many countries have different rules and regulations regarding the repatriation of a body. In France, for example, you cannot arrange to transport a body without a police tag and the approval of the local mayor. In Muslim countries, and among those of the Jewish faith, the deceased must be buried- not cremated- within 24 hours and preferably without an autopsy.

 

In  the United States, embalming is a common practice and is carried out by a qualified embalmer. But, in Spain and Portugal, only doctors can carry out this procedure.

If the deceased is Zimbabwean, a total of seven documents must be completed and sent to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Harare before the body can be moved. Given the speed of mail sent in Africa, you and your Zimbabwean corpse need to have the patience of Job.

6 rules for repatriating a body

  1. Inform the relevant embassy about the deceased and request the  assistance of a  Consular or Diplomatic representative.
  2. Embassies do not pay for the repatriation of mortal remains, so do not sign anything until the payment issue has been clarified.
  3. Make contact with the next- of- kin or the deceased’s employer. Ask about their wishes or company protocols.
  4. Say nothing to the media. Perhaps extend your sympathies to the family and friends of the deceased but do not disclose operational details surrounding their death.
  5. Arrange to have a formal identification of the deceased. Some countries allow a colleague to make this formal identification but  other countries require a family member to do so.
  6. A death generates a lot of paperwork. You may be involved with collecting a letter from the police, burial or cremation permission, embalming certificate, list of belongings, original passport and postmortem certificate to name a few.

Learn how to repatriate the  body of a colleague from any African 

country by attending one of  our courses for corporate travellers.

 

 

H.E.A.T. tip:

Family and friends will want to know how and why the deceased died. Often, grief is manifested as aggression. Do not take this personally but answer their questions as best you can.

6 Steps to Survive a Minefield

You discover that you are in the middle of a minefield: drive on or go back? The United Nations estimates that, with current technology, it will take over a 1000 years to clear all the landmines in the world.

Africa has the most amount of mines than any other continent. Angola and Egypt have more landmines than Iraq and Afghanistan combined and Zimbabwe is one of the densest minefields on Earth with an estimated 5500 mines per kilometre. 

Yet, since 1997, African giant pouched rats ( the size of a cat) have been trained to detect and help dismantle mines. These rats are indigenous to Morogoro in Tanzania and appear keen to learn. This is fortuitous because these rats can clear an area the size of a tennis court in 30 minutes. A human with all the latest demining  kit takes 4 days.

6 Steps to Survive a Minefield

  1. In a mined area, get local information about the markers used to identify minefields. Sometimes, the marker is a bunch of sticks or pile of rocks. In other areas, warning signs have been  posted on fences or rocks have been painted a distinctive colour.
  2. If you see a mine, do not touch.
  3. If a mine explodes and causes an injury, stop all movement.
  4. Do not rush to aid a blast victim. Grab your medical kit and exit your vehicle via the window, climbing over the front of the vehicle. Walk slowly and carefully along the vehicle tracks.
  5. Sit on your flak jacket and wear a helmet. Many injuries are sustained by hitting your head against the vehicle’s roof during a mine blast.
  6. Keep to the tarred roads even when Turing your vehicle around.

Learn how to recognise a minefield before it is too late. Join one of our courses and learn new life skills.

H.E.A.T. tip:

Landmines are often encased in waterproof plastic. Floods enable the mines to float and they move along with the flow. Get out of the water.

 

6 Steps to Survive Food Poisoning

Travelling to developing countries in Africa, where there is poor sanitation and low hygienic standards, poses a high risk of food poisoning. Use these tips to survive.

Food poisoning is caused by eating spoiled, contaminated or toxic foods or drinking impure water. The specific cause can be attributed to bacteria, parasites or viruses. Dangerous bacteria include Salmonella and E.coli.Toxoplasma is a  parasite that causes food poisoning and lives in cat litter boxes. But, the biggest threat is from the norovirus. This virus causes over 19 million cases of food poisoning each year.

The most common source of food poisoning is raw food, eggs, undercooked meat, unpasteurised milk and human- contaminated food. The symptoms range from vomiting and diarrhea to dehydration, blood in the stool and paresthesia.

 

6 steps to survive food poisoning

  1. Be patient. The illness could last a couple of hours to a days. 
  2. Take a stool sample for diagnostic purposes.
  3. Stay fully hydrated. Drink 2 litres a day and a glass of water every time you are sick.
  4. Take rehydration salts or make your own. Mix a teaspoon of bicarb of soda and salt; add to 4 tablespoons of sugar;  and add to a litre of water.
  5. Call a doctor if your fever goes higher than 38°C or you notice blood in your stool.
  6. Take a course of prescribed antibiotics, depending on the severity of the food poisoning.

If you experience an explosive bout of food poisoning, speed your recovery using the techniques taught during the Emergency Medicine module of our H.E.A.T. course.

H.E.A.T. tip: To prevent food poisoning and mitigate the risk of eating bad food or drinking dirty water, remember to boil it, peel it, use hand sanitiser or forget it. 

6 steps to secure your identity

Who knows your identity?

Credit industry experts claim that someone’s identity is stolen every 2 seconds somewhere in the world.

Identity theft, or identity fraud, is the wilful use of someone else’s name and particulars for personal gain.  But, that person’s gain is the victim’s loss and might not be noted until weeks after the crime. Not surprisingly, because it is a silent crime and easy to execute, identity theft is one of the fastest growing crimes in society.

 

The crime is similar to piracy: waiting on the cyber- seas of our digital world lurk privacy pirates. They want to board your ship and steal your personal data. You need to prepare yourself to repel these boarders.

6 steps to secure your identity

  1. Install anti- virus and anti- spyware on your personal computing devices. Either switch off the camera or cover the lens with duct tape to prevent accidental or deliberate filming.
  2. Select, index and make copies of your critical documents. Make one hard copy and two digital copies of this critical information before securing it in a combination safe.
  3. Prevent thieves from rifling through your rubbish for credit card and bank statements. Shred all discarded paper, receipts and the like.
  1. Carry your credit and debit cards in a wallet with  RFID protection. Electronic pickpockets can transfer data from your cards from 5 metres away.
  2. Monitor your accounts for suspicious activity. Report your suspicions to your bank or credit provider. Be prepared to change bank accounts and pin numbers.
  3. Select and download secure apps to organise your passwords.

Although the theft of your identity could have serious consequences, you might not know that your identity has been compromised for some weeks later.

Not only do you not know who stole your identity but you do not know how it will be used. Attend one of our H.E.A.T. courses and know how to protect yourself from identity theft.

H.E.A.T. tip: 

To prevent your online data from being stolen, deselect ” remember me” when browsing the internet.

The 6 steps to crossing a border safely

How much would you pay for your liberty?

Border crossings in Africa can be intimidating places. Whether you are crossing a border via land, arrived via sea or have just landed in a plane, many points of entry into an African country seem haphazard and disorganised.

Experience of crossing many border posts in Africa support the first impressions of corruption, lawlessness and stifling bureaucracy.

 

The 6 steps to crossing a border safely

  1. Prepare your documentation beforehand. Have passport- sized photos available and carry your Yellow Fever vaccination certificate. Have the correct visa, a passport with at least three clean pages and an address of where you will be staying. 
  1. Carry plenty of cash, some in the currency of the country you will be visiting. Have both small ( for tips) and large ( entry or Customs fees) denominations. Carry at least US $ 500.00 in a secure money belt or distraction safe in your luggage.
  1. Dress according to local custom. Do not overdress but look like a local national  returning home.
  1. Keep calm when being frisked or interrogated by border officials. Let them feel that they are in charge. 
  2. Once through baggage reclaim, take a pre- booked taxi to your hotel or friend’s house. Even better, follow your company’ s meet – and- greet protocol.
  1. If you are stopped by a policeman ( fake or not), you need to exercise caution. Adopt an unassuming stance, be relaxed and ask if you had done anything wrong.

Do not offer a bribe, pull out your wallet or make an  accusation about possible corruption.

Assess the situation and say:  ” I am so sorry. I am sure that there is a fine I have to pay for this. How do I go about paying it?”.

To find out more about crossing borders and entering African countries safely, join one of our H.E.A.T. courses. 

H.E.A.T. tip: When asked for your papers at a makeshift roadblock, maintain eye contact as you hand over your documentation. If the documents are handed back to you but you are not waved through, place a  $5 bill in the last page and hand back the document. Repeat the process with small cash increments until you are allowed to pass.