The Hostage Support Center

Every person is unique, but when you face a challenge like being in a hostage situation, you are never alone.  Countless men, women and children have faced the exact same horrifying incident and have survived and thrived.  The following guide is designed to help you navigate your journey with the best information and resources that helped other survivors when they faced the same challenge.  

TSC has scoured the Internet and assembled links to the very best hostage situation resources: articles, blogs, forums and tools that can help you make better decisions and take action to overcome the range of physical, emotional and other challenges that you face.

As you’ll see, we always welcome your ideas and suggestions to make this Hostage Guide even more helpful to survivors like you.   

JUST FOUND OUT 

Survivors Say: Best Resources for Disorder

• National Institute of Corrections: Surviving a Hostage Incident
  
• The Complete Guide to Personal and Home Safety: A Loved One Taken Hostage
• Soul Winning: A Training for Jail and Prison Ministry

The Big Picture

Nobody would ask to intentionally be taken hostage. This is an extreme situation where the hostage takers involved have been pushed to their limits. Unfortunately, there are far too many incidents of hostage taking from schools, offices, prisons and theaters. Not all of these terrible situations have happy endings but there is information and resources out there which can help you survive a hostage incident. Many private security agencies have developed programs to help you if you ever find yourself in that situation.

Corrections Community: Surviving a Hostage Incident

You never want to find yourself in this type of situation but it doesn’t hurt to be properly trained by the professionals.

Asis International: Surviving an Active Shooter - Hostage Event in The Workplace or Academic Environment

Hostage Incidents

To better understand how hostage situations play out, it’s helpful to study past incidents and learn from the positive actions taken and sadly, the mistakes.

Deseret News: Retired Lieutenant Empathizes with Heroic Officer

A recent hostage incident that captured the world’s attention occurred off the coast of Somali and involved the capture of an American Merchant Marine Captain. It took the U.S. Navy SEALS to resolve this situation and free the hostage.

CNN: 3 'Phenomenal Shots' Ended Pirate Hostage Crisis

A predominate number of hostage situations have occurred in the prison system. If you work or volunteer in a prison facility, you should be prepared for the warnings signs and prepare for extreme measures of protecting yourself.

B Net: On The Consequences of Listening - Hostage Incidents in The Federal Bureau of Prisons

Your World

There are three basic motivations for hostage takers: criminal, political or emotionally disturbed. The criminal and political hostage taker usually means that some form of negotiations can result as a means to an end. With an emotionally disturbed individual the situation can become a lot more volatile.  

Survival Associate: Hostage Awareness and Survival 2004

In most hostage situations occurring in the US, the FBI is brought in to negotiate the safe release of the hostages no matter what the situation is.  These are trained professionals who have been through these incidents and know how to manage them for a positive outcome.

Emergency: FBI Critical Incident Negotiation Team

Hostage Myths

• Anyone who is taken hostage stands a good chance of getting killed.
• The only way to negotiate with a hostage taker is to give them what they want.
• You don’t have to be trained to negotiate a hostage situation.
  

Information and Recommended Links for Survivors

• How Stuff Works: How Hostage Negotiation Works 
• ABC News: Hostage Negotiators - How do They Do It?
  
• Police Link: Correctional Hostage Rescue Operation 

Types of Hostage Situations

Classroom

Too often disturbed students vent their anger and feelings of isolation through violence. Classroom shootings and hostage incidents turn the glaring spotlight on these problems. As a result of this attention, guidelines have been developed for teachers and students as to how to deal with a potential hostage situation.

E Campus News: Emergencies - Hostage Situations

Bank

When bank robbers decide to carry out their crime, innocent bystanders can sometimes be caught in the crossfire. This leads to hostage situations within the bank branch. There are steps to take if you should ever find yourself in this situation.

About.com: What to Do in A Bank Robbery

Kidnapping

"Desperate times call for desperate measures" might be the primary motivation for foreign kidnappers. These incidents are on the rise, especially in Mexico as drug users and dealers turn to ransom as a means of supporting their habits. Guidelines for travelers have been developed to help them avoid these situations.

Harvard Law Record: An Insider's Guide to Surviving a Kidnapping 

Domestic Abuse

There are some extreme hostage situations that don’t always involve a SWAT team or FBI negotiator. Women and children can find themselves victims of abuse and feel as though they are hostages in their own homes. If you find yourself in this situation, you can get professional help.

E Zine Articles: Domestic Abuse, Are You a Hostage in Your Own Home? 

Hostage Negotiator

When a hostage crisis arises, police turn to professional negotiators to handle the situation. The first steps are in securing the scene and gathering as much information about the hostage taker as possible. Negotiation is all about compromise, but in a hostage situation, the safety of the hostages is never compromised or up for negotiation.

International Association of Hostage Negotiators

Possible Treatment Side Effects

Stockholm Syndrome is the name given to the phenomenon in which hostages develop empathy for their kidnappers. Under the duress of a hostage situation, the victims sometimes choose to emotionally bond with their captors as a coping mechanism. There have been numerous studies dealing with this unique occurrence.

About.com: Stockholm Syndrome

Creating a support circle

• Set up your TSC Survivor Profile
• Join support groups of other survivors or set up your own
• Interact and provide updates on your profile or our forums
  

Hostage Negotiator Certification

As a hostage situation begins to unfold, a professional negotiator is brought in to establish communication and secure the release of the hostages. These are trained professionals who know that each situation is unique but there a common objectives to achieve. It’s important that any negotiator has the proper training in this field.

Public Agency Training Council: Hostage Negotiator

Because of their vast experience in this area, the FBI have teams of hostage negotiators on stand by throughout the country. They are ready to spring into action at a moments notice and can anticipate many outcomes.

Lect Law: Guide to Crisis Negotiations

The Emotional Roller-coaster

Surviving with a hostage situation proves to be a challenge to everyone who has gone through this type of harrowing situation. Some people find that dealing with the aftermath is more of a hardship than the actual incident. Many survivors panic and break down under the stress. To avoid this, it's important to continue living your life normally, participating in the same daily activities you've always done. Support groups are also important to maintaining a healthy emotional state. Other than that, educating yourself on the reality of surviving a hostage situation and exposing yourself to books and stories written by those who have dealt with this criminal incident in their past can help give you and your loved ones hope while dealing with this crisis.

Books Survivors Recommend

• Out of Captivity: Surviving 1,967 Days in The Colombian Jungle 
• The Elements of Police Hostage and Crisis Negotiations: Critical Incidents and How to Respond to Them
• Hijacking and Hostages: Government Responses to Terrorism
  
• Saving Lives: The S.A.F.E. Model for Resolving Hostage and Crisis Incidents
  

What Survivors Wish They’d Known

Being in a Hostage Situation

• Remain calm and try not to be a hero. Let the professionals handle the negotiations.
• Follow the directions of the hostage takers. Don’t try to change things.
• Remain alert. If shooting happens, drop to the floor.
• Don’t speak unless spoken to.
  

Armchair World: How to Survive if You Are Taken Hostage

Dealing with Hostage Post Traumatic Stress Disorder: Information and Recommended Links for Co-Survivors

How you can help

• Assist your friend or family member with their day-to-day duties or chores, but be sure to find a good balance so as not to throw off their pattern of living, which may increase their stress as they may feel they are becoming a burden.
• Preserve your friend or family member's daily activities. It's normal to feel protective but excluding them from activities or decisions you don't see them as fit enough to do or make contributes to feelings of helplessness.
• Involve your friend or family member with others. Don't focus exclusively on their anxiety and hostage story when interacting with them. Talk to them about yourself or make plans to visit friends and loved ones. A survivor involved with others has a better chance of avoiding feelings of abandonment.
  

What to say   

• "You have every right to feel upset."
• "You did everything right."
• “You’re safe now.”

What not to say

• "How could you let this happen?”
• "Why didn’t you fight back or try to escape?”
• "You should have taken the gun away.”
  

Things you can do for a survivor every day

Offering day-to-day support is a great gift to give a family member or a friend/neighbor that has been involved in a hostage situation. If the survivor isn't a family member, help out the survivor’s family by picking up the mail or newspaper, making meals, going grocery shopping, etc. If the survivor is a family member, help out with chores or other duties they may have fallen behind on.

How to build a support network

 

• Set up your TSC Co-Survivor Profile
• Create a support group for your friend or family member.
• Interact and provide updates

After surviving a hostage incident, assess and share with others how you feel emotionally, mentally and spiritually. Recovering from a crisis like this is almost as shocking as going through it in the first place. By telling your story, you can not only put into perspective your thoughts and feelings but you can provide hope to others who are going through a similar journey themselves, whether it be with hostage situation, kidnapping or some other form of extreme trauma.

Surviving the crisis

You can never truly know how you’ll react in such an extreme situation, but being prepared is being informed. If you work in places such as banks or prisons that might be prone to a hostage crisis, then knowing how to react to the situation can help save your life and the lives of others around you. Be a leader.

Missouri State: What to Do if You Are Taken Hostage

It is obvious that being held hostage means that you are no longer in control. However, that doesn’t mean you should surrender completely. There are defensive measures you can take to insure your safety.

Departmental Administration: Kidnapping and Hostage Survival Guidelines    

Give back

What helped you while you were dealing with the aftermath of a hostage situation and realized you had recovered? Take a look back at your journey and share with other what helped you and what you wished you would have known/done during your hostage experience. You can create a profile, reach out to other survivors, join support circles or share your story by following the links at TheSurvivorsClub.org.

Clearly the best way to survive a hostage situation is not to get into one. Unfortunately, you might not have control over that. As hard as the professionals work to resolve the situation, sometimes they can turn deadly with a lot of innocent people being harmed or killed. If a hostage situation unfolds around you, know your options and stay alert.

News Vine: How to Survive a Hostage Situation  

For advice on overcoming challenges related to being a hostage, read through:

Associated Content: How to Survive Being Held Hostage