This course is designed as a complete introduction to action medical knowledge and skills. The completion of this course will prepare you to serve as a street medic at political actions. Street medics also serve as a source of health care information and resources within their communities, and so the training is open to anyone who wishes to gain greater first aid/medical knowledge to use in their lives and to share in their community. We cover Basic Street First Aid (from treating bleeding wounds to splinting sprains and breaks to calling 911 for emergencies), Weather-Related Injuries, Street Operations Tactics, Initial Patient Assessment, Psychological First Aid, Chemical Weapons Treatments and Aftercare, and Stress Management and Treatment. We can also provide Skills Evaluations for folks who want them.
You do not need to have any previous medical or first aid training in order to attend this course.
Practical information on taking care of yourself and your friends if you plan to attend protest events. While the focus will be on urban street protests, much of the material may also be applicable to wilderness situations and first aid needs in your community. This includes preparing for actions, personal care, affinity group safety considerations, weather-related hazards, detox and aftercare, and your questions.
Street Operations Tactics, including a presentation and discussion of codes of conduct and ethics, team makeup and teamwork, calling for backup, and dealing with police/EMS, how/when to move patients and how to conduct triage.
Basic Street First Aid, including Initial Patient Assessment, treating bleeding wounds, splinting sprains and breaks, calling 911 for emergencies, and weather-related injuries.
Psychological First Aid. How to recognize and assist people with emotional distress whether it results from physical injury, excessive stress, or traumatic experience.
Chemical Weapons Treatments and Aftercare. Covers a review of current chemical agents in use, a discussion of personal protection gear (gas masks, respirators, etc), and a complete introduction to tear gas and pepper spray decontamination and treatment protocols with demonstrations, hands-on practice and role-plays.
The tentative schedule for this training is as follows: Friday evening, [date] from 6-10 pm; Saturday, [date] from 9 am to 7 pm; and Sunday, [date] from 9 am to 7 pm. We encourage people to attend all of the training, and we will give registration preference to people who can attend all of the training sessions. We will provide specific information about the training and various logistics to registered participants before the training weekend.
We hope to supply some vegan food for participants during the training. We also encourage participants to bring extra (preferably vegan) food to share if they can.
Housing during the training weekend is available on a first-come-first-served basis. If you will need housing, please contact [sponsoring organization] as soon as possible. When you request housing for the training weekend, please tell us about any allergies, dietary restrictions, or other special needs you have so we can try to accommodate your requests.
We have a sliding scale fee from $0 to $100 for this training course, and we welcome barter in place of money. We do not want financial restrictions to keep anyone from taking this course. We anticipate that our cost per trainee will be between $30 and $40, and we hope that donations from participants will cover our costs.
Hi there. My name is Eowyn, and I am thrilled to be one of the trainers for the February street medic training in [location]. I am writing this so you know a bit about me and what to expect from the training. I am an anarchist, vegan, happy and pissed-off-at-the-state-of-the-world kind of person. I am also a street medic, wilderness first responder, budding herbalist, and family physician working with poor people in Lawrence, Massachusetts. I do street medic work because I want all people to feel confident and cared for during demonstrations, and I hope to help people have more autonomy and power in their efforts to be healthy. In addition to the information we'll present, the Boston training will include lots of interactive work, discussion and opportunities to develop specific, concrete skills that we all use on the streets and in our communities. We are also designing the training so it represents our philosophy as activists—respecting and valuing everyone's knowledge and experiences, promoting and creating an anti-authoritarian and anti-oppressive movement, and having lots of fun while we learn and share together. If you have any questions about the training, you can contact the other organizers or email me at dreowyn@yahoo.com. I'm excited! See you soon!
Space for this course is limited, so please provide us with the information asked for below as soon as possible. Once we receive this information, we will reserve a space for you in the course. If your plans change, please let us know as soon as possible so we can let someone else have your spot. All information you give us is confidential, and will not be used in anyway that is not directly related to this training.
To register for the Basic Street Medic Training, write to [sponsoring organization] at [e-mail address] or call us at [phone number] and give us the information requested below. We expect this course to fill up quickly, so the sooner you register, the more likely that you will be in the course. Keep in mind that registration preference will be given to people who can attend all of the training sessions. We will have a waiting list if the course fills up. It is particularly important to contact [sponsoring organization] promptly if you are coming from out of town and will need a place to stay during the training.
Please provide the following information when registering for this training course...
Your Name:
Phone Number(s) where we can leave messages regarding the training:
Email Address:
Best way to contact you:
Best times to contact you:
Can you come to all of the sessions?
If not, which sessions will you miss?
What dietary restrictions do you have (if any)?
What allergies do you have that we should know about for food and housing planning?
Do you have any other special needs?
Do you need housing during the training?
If so, when?
Do you have any other concerns or considerations we should know about?
Optional: Where did you first hear about this training?