Medics
Medics are being organized through Eastern Seeds of Peace Collective.
A Word from Your Friendly Street Medics
The medical organizers are hard at work gathering resources, building infrastructure and coordinating street medics and other volunteers to provide the most effective support possible for the events happening during the International Pittsburgh Coal Conference and G-20 Summit.
In the interest of helping things work as smoothly as possible, here's some preliminary information to make sure everyone's on the same page.
Street Medics
Street medics are first aid providers that use "Do No Harm" protocols and help those who are injured or sick. Activists who volunteer as street medics come from all walks of life, and their levels of training range from basic first aid to certified First Responders, EMTs, Registered Nurses, herbalists and many other specialties. Medics are often seen at large demonstrations, mass actions and marches due to both the likelihood of police-initiated violence and the general lack of Emergency Medical Service coverage at these events.
If you or someone around you is in need of medical attention, look around. Marked street medics commonly wear patches or red crosses on their clothes and equipment, but not all medics follow this convention. If you are unable to locate anyone nearby who is clearly an aid provider, simply yell "Medic!" Others may relay this message and if medics are in the area they will come to your location as quickly as possible. Be mindful of where you are located in relation to the police. If there is an ongoing confrontation or violence, try to move a short distance away if at all possible while calling for assistance. If you are unable to move yourself or the injured person away, make sure those around you know that aid is needed as soon as possible.
If you are a trained street medic, or are interested in being trained and are looking to plug in with the medical infrastructure, contact medicsⓐresistg20.org. Also, if you need to request medical coverage at an event in advance, please notify us as early as possible. Advance notice is always appreciated, as we would like to provide a trained medical presence to as many people as we can. We will do our best to cover as many locations as possible, but may not be able to be everywhere at once.
There are activist medics coming from all over the country to help contribute to our medical response during the Coal Conference and G-20. We are excited to have this opportunity to help keep people as safe as possible, while providing aid to both fellow activists and the Pittsburgh community at large.
Clinic and Wellness Space
The Emma Kaufman Clinic and Frank Wellness Center will both be open 8am-9pm Sunday 9/20-Monday 9/28. The Clinic and Wellness Space are located at 3028 Brereton Ave, and are near the following bus stops: 54C, 77A, 77B, 77C, 28K, 78C, EBA and EBS .
The Emma Kaufman Clinic is a first aid space. There will be trained clinicians and aid providers in the space during open hours to help anyone who has been injured or exposed to chemical weapons.
The Frank Wellness Center is a space for mental and emotional aid. It will be a quiet, safe place staffed by wellness workers with various skills including listeners, peer counselors, massage therapists, and herbalists.
If you are interested in working in the clinic or wellness space, please visit this page.
Here are some links to some 'zines with important first aid and health & safety info.
Basic First Aid Information
Legal
Health and Safety Information
Preparation and Aftercare
A Call to Action for Street Medics, Clinicians, and Herbalists
A newly formed faction of the Seeds of Peace Collective, named Eastern
Seeds of Peace, is committed to organizing medical infrastructure in
support of the expected large-scale actions against the International
Pittsburgh Coal Conference and G20 Summit in Pittsburgh in late
September. This is a call to action for street medics, clinicians,
herbalists, and all those interested in contributing to the medical
support that is crucial to the success of the planned marches and
demonstrations.
In late May, it was announced that both the G20 Summit and the
International Pittsburgh Coal Conference will be hosted by the city of
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania during the same week (9/20-9/25) in late
September. Two groups of activists, the G20 Resistance Project and the
Pittsburgh Organizing Group, have taken responsibility for organizing a
response to these gala events and they have been hard at work for the
past two months building the general infrastructure to support an
activist response to these events.
Eastern Seeds of Peace is working on many aspects of medical support at
this point, including stockpiling supplies, fund raising, planning for a
clinic and scheduling medic trainings, while communicating regularly
with local organizers to ensure our efforts can best support the
upcoming events this fall. We also see this as an opportunity to help
build decentralized, radical medical infrastructure in the Pittsburgh
area that will continue providing care long after the G20 demonstrations
have concluded. But we can't do it alone, and we need people from
Pittsburgh who are interested in medical support to help us build these
support systems and keep them alive over the long term. Just as
important to the success of these projects are folks from out of town,
who can definitely come to Pittsburgh and help provide and maintain
effective support of all kinds during the demonstrations. Trained
street medics are needed to provide first aid support in the streets and
outside jails and detention centers. Clinicians and herbalists are
encouraged to contact us about helping out in the planned clinic and
wellness spaces. Anyone with prior experience training street medics is
needed; we have a limited amount of time for trainings, due to our
multiple responsibilities, and additional trainers would be a huge boost
to our capacity. People without prior training or certification can
still attend a medic training, work as a street medic or help out with
other medical support work.
Even those who absolutely can't make the trip in September can
contribute by donating funds or medical supplies. Our capacity to open
a clinic and provide support is directly linked to our ability to raise
money for supplies and other expenses. Anything will help. Feel free
to contact us for more info on how to donate these types of resources.
There have been many instances over the past year that have illustrated
the continuing value of street medicine in the global justice movement.
Widespread police violence at many recent events, including the 2008 RNC
in St. Paul, Minnesota, the London G20 Summit in early April, and the
Washington, DC IMF/World Bank meetings in late April have resulted in
scores of injuries and a death in London from a police baton. In the
face of such repression, every aspect of support is necessary in order
to ensure the greatest level of safety for all who are involved in
marches, demonstrations and direct action. As part of the street medic
movement, we believe that first aid and medical support are forms of
community self defense.
Anyone interested in plugging in with or contributing to medical
logistics in Pittsburgh should contact us at: medics@resistg20.org.
To join our medic announcement list: click here and follow the subscription instructions.
We hope to see you there!
- the medical organizers -
The organizers:
G20 Resistance Project
http://resistg20.org/
Pittsburgh Organizing Group
http://www.organizepittsburgh.org/
The events:
International Pittsburgh Coal Conference, September 20-23
http://www.engr.pitt.edu/pcc/
G20 Summit, September 23-25
http://www.pittsburghsummit.gov/
