Personal Security

Posted: December 14th, 2015

By Francisco Quiñones

Francisco Quiñones is the founder and Managing Director of Arcis International, a security, risk management and crisis response consultancy. Prior to forming Arcis, Francisco was the Director of Operations for Clayton Consultants where he ran global response efforts for over four years. As global response lead for four years, Francisco oversaw more than 150 kidnap-for-ransom, extortion, and wrongful detention cases and was personally involved in the successful resolution of more than 30 kidnapping, maritime hijacking, and evacuation cases throughout Latin America, Africa, and South Asia.

Recent security incidents around the world have business and recreational travelers paying more attention to personal security risks. The concept of greater situational awareness continues to come up as a way to mitigate risks. Unfortunately, few people understand what “situational awareness” means and how to improve this skill.

Situational awareness is more than just watching what is going on around you. It is the ability to observe and analyze actions in your environment and comprehend how they can affect you. It is asking “what if?” questions and reacting appropriately to any perceived threat. Situational awareness is a natural survival instinct that can be honed to give businesses and individuals the foresight to act and react prior to, or during, an incident in ways that will significantly diminish personal risks.

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