Cooperative care: Helpers and buddies/know your limits

Facilitator: Grace
Medics:
Time: 15 mins; 1900-1915
Actual time:
Learning Objectives:
Materials: Chart paper, marker, butcher paper: RIVAL

Buddies and AGs rock when shit is rough

Facilitator says

Medics do not work alone at protests, whether in community health care, or in disaster response. We work in pairs, in trios, or as part of an affinity group. In the street, if you don't have a buddy, you ain't a street medic. Stick with your buddy until you go home. Look out for each other. Ensure that neither of you is ever alone.

Facilitator says

Buddies:

  • Share supplies.

  • Watch out for one another -- scene safety; notice each others' mental status, hydration, blood sugar.

  • Get second opinion in first aid care.

  • Debrief together.

Facilitator says

An affinity group is 4-16 people who choose to attend an action together. They usually know one another and share general goals.

Facilitator asks

Has anyone here been in an affinity group or run with a buddy? What was good about it? Write answers on chart paper. Some common responses:

  • Safety amidst crowds, stressed people, bullies, vehicles, fights.

  • A witness to whatever goes down.

  • Confidence.

  • Second opinion and help problem-solving under stress.

  • Emotional support.

  • Patients have a choice of medic (gender issues, treatment modalities, demeanor etc) -- in a protest a team of 2 will do first aid for only one person at a time.

Buddy roles

"360 Buddy Vision"

Facilitator says

Buddies don't focus on the same things -- you play different roles. The most common and useful role split is for one buddy to do patient assessment and patient care, and the other buddy to do scene control and comms.

Trainer buddy pair mimes

One buddy doing first aid, other doing scene control and comms.

Trainer buddy pair mimes

Walking as a buddy pair.

Trainer buddy pair demonstrates

Squeezing through a dense and surging crowd (holding space and looking over heads and through legs).

Dividing roles

Trainer buddy pair demonstrates

deciding who will take patient assessment and who will take scene control before approaching an imaginary patient.

Facilitator says

The scene control buddy asks surrounding people to help and gives them helpful tasks to do. Scene control involves collecting info about what happened, making a privacy circle, calling for back-up, language interpretation, lifts and carries, de-escalation, clearing a path out of the area for your buddy team and patient to exit, look-out, etc. We'll practice doing scene control later this evening.

Facilitator says

The patient assessment buddy is usually the "lead" buddy in crisis decision-making. Usually buddies discuss all decisions, but if something has to be done fast, it's the lead buddy's call. If the lead buddy is wrong, you can sort it out during debrief.

Preparedness line: Losing a buddy

Facilitator:

1

  • "I got separated from my buddy during a running march and there is an injured person. I feel confident that I would know what to do."

  • "My two buddies and I are standing between a police line and a line of protesters at a standoff at the park. The police have ordered the park cleared. The protesters sit down. My buddy sits down between the police and the protesters. A whiteshirt points her out for arrest, and the snatch squad comes in and grabs her. The situation feels chaotic and scary in that moment. I feel confident that I would know what I would do."

Choosing a buddy

Facilitator says

Choose your buddy before the action, either from home base or at pre-action meetings.

Facilitator says

Things to consider:

  • Someone who is calm, who you trust and feel safe with.

  • Similar risk level in terms of police violence and arrest.

  • Different experience levels; different training.

  • Response to chaos: not great to have 2 hyped up folks.

  • Gender presentation (important for patient care); gender on gov't ID (important in jail).

  • Language: if you speak same non-English language, might be best to buddy up with others who do not speak this language.

"Getting to know you" with the RIVAL acronym

Facilitator says

2

R

for Roles: Patient care or scene control/comms? On street, in first aid station, on dispatch, organizing medical response, doing sexual assault response, available for aftercare?

I

for ID: What name are you going by? Who trained you, when and where? Have you medicked any major actions? Who can vouch for you? Other relevant training or experience? Where and when did you train, apprentice, do your residency, etc? Is credential current? Where is it valid?

V

for Vulnerability: Relevant disabilities and impairments, reasons you might be targeted, medical issues, medication schedule, situations you must avoid.

A

for Arrestability: Willingness to go to jail vs. magnitude of desire to stay out.

L

for Loose Ends: Languages spoken, special skills, interests, etc.

Practice: buddy time!

Practice

Facilitator

reminds students they're welcome to opt out of practice sessions for any reason/at any time.

Students

Get into pairs. They have 5 minutes to get to know each other.

Debrief

Facilitator asks

Did you find RIVAL useful?

Facilitator asks

Are you and your buddy a good match? Why/why not?

  1. See "To co-trainers" at the beginning of this trainer's guide for notes on how to set up and facilitate a preparedness line.↩
  2. Refer students to RIVAL on chart paper -- students must see RIVAL, not just hear it.↩