UPDATE: Registration for this training is now closed. We had a great response (81 applicants!) and we thank everyone who applied and expressed their interest in and support for the training. Please feel free to follow this site to get notified when the next Boston area street medic training happens, or follow Boston’s Digital Street Medic on Facebook and join the group “Boston street medic training: interested folks”.

“Street medics, or action medics, are volunteers with varying degrees of medical training who attend protests and demonstrations to provide medical care such as first aid. Unlike emergency medical technicians (EMTs), who work for state-sponsored institutions, street medics operate as civilians and are not protected from arrest.”

– From the Street Medic Wiki, http://medic.wikia.com/wiki/Street_medic

This 20-hour course is designed as a complete introduction to action medical knowledge and skills, including basic first aid, street operations and tactics, emotional first aid and aftercare, chemical weapons information and treatment, and action preparedness. The completion of this course will prepare you to serve as a street medic at political actions. Street medics are also a source of health care information and resources in their communities, and so the training is open to anyone who wishes to gain greater first aid knowledge to use in their lives and to share with others. While the focus will be on urban street protests, much of the information in this training is also applicable to wilderness/rural situations and community first aid needs. This is an intensive, full weekend course with one evening session and two long daytime sessions, providing ample opportunities for hands-on skills practice in realistic scenarios.

You do not need to have any previous medical or first aid training in order to attend this course. People with all levels of experience and training are welcome, but if this 20-hour training is oversubscribed, we may exclude medical professionals and offer a 4-6 hour bridge training for them in the spring.

Schedule

The tentative schedule for this training is as follows: Friday evening, January 19th from 6 to 10 pm; Saturday, January 20th and Sunday, January 21st from 9 am to 5 pm. We encourage people to attend the entire training, and we will give registration preference to those who can attend all of the training sessions. We will provide specific information about the training and various logistical details to registered participants before the training weekend.

Food, Housing, and Childcare

We hope to supply some vegan and vegetarian food for participants during the training. We also invite participants to bring snacks (preferably vegetarian or vegan) to share if they can. Anyone bringing food to share with the group should be able to identify the ingredients in the food so people with dietary restrictions, allergies or food sensitivities can make informed choices about what to eat during the training.

Housing during the training weekend is limited and available on a first-come, first-served basis. If you will need housing, please let us know on the follow-up survey you will receive after your registration is confirmed. 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 and match you up with a compatible housing option.

We hope to be able to offer childcare during this training so parents can attend. However, we need to know if there is demand for this service, and how many people expect to bring their children with them to the training, so please let us know about that on the follow-up survey as well.

Costs

We have a sliding scale fee from $1 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 around $50, and we hope that donations from participants will cover our costs. We also welcome and appreciate support donations from friends who cannot attend the training but who wish to contribute to help keep the cost of the training affordable for everyone.

Because we have had problems with people signing up for trainings and then not showing up or contributing to the cost of the training, we will ask those accepted to submit a small deposit by cash, check or Venmo to confirm their spot. You can pay your entire training fee in advance, or pay your balance on the first night of the training. Please contribute as much as you feel able to, but know that nobody will be turned away based on lack of funds, nor will anyone making a large donation be given preference in registration.

If you don’t pay the full amount for the training(s) online, the balance of your training fee is expected at the first session of this training—we accept cash (preferred) and personal checks. If you need to make alternate payment arrangements, please contact us as soon as possible with your request.

Registration Information

To register for the Street Medic Training, click here or click the Register link in the Web site header, then fill out and submit the online Registration Form.

Enrollment is limited and we expect this course to fill up quickly. We will have a waiting list if the course fills up, and will contact people on the list if spaces in the training become available. Registration will be closed on January 2nd.

Because of the limited number of spaces in this course, we are prioritizing registrants based on identity, languages spoken, and community activism in order to ensure that people in under-represented communities will have a chance to attend this street medic training.

Once we receive your Registration Form, you will be added to a list of potential attendees. Once registration closes on January 2nd, we will review all the Registration Forms and assign training slots based on the criteria mentioned above. We will send you a confirmation message via e-mail when you are accepted into the course with a link to a follow-up form where you can tell us more about your needs for the training as well as information about how to pay your deposit. If your plans change and you need to drop out of the training, please let us know as soon as possible so we can let someone else have your spot. All information you give us on the Registration Form is confidential, and will not be used in any way that is not directly related to this training.

Thank you for your interest in this training. We hope to see you in Boston this January!