How do I become a street medic?

“How do I become a street medic?”

Since opening an ask box on this site, the main issue people have seemed interested in is how they can become a street medic. Our apologies for not answering sooner and on a more individual basis, but the issue seemed important enough to warrant a larger post. Following is some information you may find useful to keep in mind when considering becoming a street medic:

1. If you have not been to a protest involving an adversarial police force before, it is advisable that you do so before trying to act as a street medic. Participating in a protest will give you valuable experience in terms of predicting the actions of both protesters and police.

2. Once you feel ready to show up as a medic, it’s a good idea to get some training. Street medics vary widely in terms of skills and experience, ranging from basic first aid practitioners to military- or professionally-trained medics. First aid certification by itself will give you most of the skills you will ever need to use as a street medic, however, so unless you have outside interest in further training to become an EMT or wilderness rescuer it usually isn’t necessary to spend time and money you may not have. More skills are always helpful, however, so use your better judgement.

3. Street medics often use an additional set of skills not taught in first aid courses, such as teargas decontamination and crowd assessment. Search social networking or activist sites in your area to see when street medic training sessions are being held, then do your best to attend. Bring food if you really want to make a good impression.

4. Assemble your gear, and keep it organized and ready to go. You don’t know when you’re going to hear about a protest action (especially with Occupy, which tends to have events spring up in moments), and the last thing you want is to have to scramble around looking for your first aid kit when you hear the police are launching gas at a march.

5. Do your research. As a medic it will be your job to keep an eye on the police, and being able to accurately determine the weaponry they’re carrying (and thereby the effects you should be prepared to treat) should be one of your most solid skills. This will involve looking at a lot of “less-lethal” manufacturing sites, as well as watching potentially troubling footage of protest injuries. We apologize in advance.

6. We have a street medic primer with a rough equipment list available here, though there are many other resources available online to help prepare medics for protest action. The best thing you can do (even better than reading Tumblr!) is to get in touch with your local street medic group and ask them what it would take to join up. They will be able to give you much deeper level of instruction than we will ever be able to accomplish online.

Be safe!

Credit to: http://anonmedics.tumblr.com/post/17529205895/how-do-i-become-a-street-medic