by cait.w·Comments Off on Street Medic Pro-Tip 33: Foreign Objects – Embedded objects
This pro-tip will show you how to treat a penetrative foreign object.
Foreign Object embedded/penetrating in the body (e.g. arms, legs, head, eye)
These will generally be in the major wound category and Medical attention will always be required, I would strongly recommend as soon as someone approaches you with an embedded object in them to either call an ambulance or get them to hospital.
***DO NOT REMOVE OR MOVE THE OBJECT***
***DO NOT PUT PRESSURE ON THE OBJECT***
We cannot see what damage has been caused internally by the object so we cannot remove it, and pressure should not be placed on it for the same reason. The only time you would consider trying to move the object by shortening it would be if the object is unmanageable in it’s current form (e.g. the person has impaled themselves on a long branch).
Follow the tips below for any embedded/penetrating object
**Creating Padding**
-Take a triangle bandage and stretch it out
– hold onto the long ends and start to twirl it so it looks more like a rope.
– Loosely wrap it around your hand, this will provide you with the donut shape.
Don’t worry about how pretty it looks, it just needs to hold its shape so that we can fit it over the object and bandage it in place with one of the other bandages.
– Place the donut over the protruding object without placing pressure on the object itself
– Using a bandage, start wrapping over the triangle bandage while avoiding direct pressure to the embedded object.
This would be the same treatment anywhere on the body, including the eye. Be sure to seek urgent medical attention, and keep the injured person calm and still so that they don’t cause further damage to the limb. If you find yourself in a situation where you don’t have bandages, items of clothing or material can be substituted for the bandages shown here.
by cait.w·Comments Off on Street Medic Pro-Tip 32: Foreign Objects in Eyes and Ears
There are different types of Foreign objects that you may need to treat in the field including eyes, ears, and embedded/penetrative wounds. For this pro-tip we will cover eye and ear complaints that you may face and our next pro-tip will cover the embedded/penetrative wound treatment.
Foreign Object in the Eye:
Dust/Grit/Eyelash/Insect
Flush the eye using clean water (if you are out in the bush – best to use water from a water bottle instead of a stream or creek).
Tilt the head back
Rinse the eye (use a sport water bottle with a push top or an eye drop bottle).
If there is an object that is protruding out of the eye (e.g. glass or a stick) please refer to our next pro-tip on how to treat it.
Chemical Burn
If a chemical has been introduced to the eye it should be treated as a serious medical problem.
Remove any contact lenses (these will hold the chemical in and cause greater problems if they are not removed quickly)
Rinse with flowing water for 15 -20 minutes.
Cover the eye with a patch
Seek further medical assistance, pain is not an indicator of damage with eyes unfortunately, so it is best to seek immediate medical support for any chemical burns. Be sure to find out what chemical it was that they got in their eyes as this may effect the treatment they receive.
Pepper Spray
In the event of pepper spray be sure to flush the eyes thoroughly if available use LAW mix (50% Liquid antacid and 50% Water) as it has been shown to be more effective than other treatments such as water and milk.
Get the person to lay down/lean back
Ask them to remove any contacts they may be wearing as this traps the pepper spray
Rinse their face first quickly with water to remove residue that may be sweated/rubbed back into the eyes after treatment
Using a spray bottle/sports bottle flush the eye from the tear duct outwards. You may need to hold their eyes open for them.
If using LAW mix be sure to advise the person that they will only see whiteness for 30seconds and then their vision should return.
Street Medics of Tahir treating Pepperspray http://m4t.wikidot.com/contrib:en-law
Foreign Objects in the Ear:
Insect
If you find that an insect has gone into your ear DO NOT try to pull it out with tweezers or stick your finger in your ear. As it is an unknown insect you do not want to make it sting/bite you.
Turn the head so that the ear with the insect in it is facing upwards
**If the insect doesn’t leave itself at this point in time**
Pour some (warm if possible) oil into the ear (if oil isn’t available you can try to this with water), this should cause the insect to float out of the ear.
***If the insect does not come out of the ear once it has been flushed with the oil, seek medical attention***
Object in the Ear
If the object is in the outer canal (protruding from the ear) you may try to remove the object with Tweezers (do not use your fingers)
If the object is a fair way into the ear, or the depth of the object is unknown, seek medical attention before trying to remove the object.
Melbourne Street Medic Collective are Record Breakers!
On April 23rd, 2014, MSMC were part of the Wage Peace Convoy which hustled through the crowded streets of Canberra and broke the world record for most protests in one day.
The Canberra Peace Convergence was a call to peaceful arms by IPAN (Independent and Peaceful Australia Network) for all peace activists to gather at the Aboriginal Tent Embassy. The First Nation people called upon their allies to come stand with them on Anzac Day. They planned on marching unto the Canberra war memorial to demand the memory of their ancestors -whom perished in the Frontier Wars of Australia’s genesis- no longer be ignored.
What happened on that fateful Anzac Day is the tale for our next blog post, suffice to say the history of white men profiteering from acts of genocide and illegal wars continues to this day. The interconnectedness of big business & government with the war machine was what the Waging Peace Convoy had in its sights
The Wage Peace Convoy consisted of a coalition of affinity groups, such as WACA (Whistleblowers, Activists & Citizen’s Alliance), The Renegade Activists, Christian Anarchists, Peace Pilgrims and many more.
An affinity group is a set of people who share the same idea. Trust is key for an affinity group. Trust & being able to work together. What follows is a story of how Affinity Groups sharing the same goal can accomplish anything!
So are you & a group of friends incensed by illegal wars being fought in your name? Are you sickened by corporations buying your democracy to make a profit off innocent lives?
If so think about this: the likelihood of an arms dealer, missile maker, lobby group or surveillance merchant having a shop front in your city is very high. These companies hide in plain sight. They use the mundanity of their shop fronts to profit from wars.
So do you think your affinity group could also expose these companies & have a crack at beating our record at the same time?
Protest #1: The Aboriginal Tent Embassy
Since 1972 Aboriginal activists have occupied the grounds of Parliament. We joined them as the sun rose for a poignant reminder of the 200 years of war (physical, economic & spiritual) the First People of this land have endured.
Protest 02: Old Parliament House
We bore witness to the eternal absence of democracy within this relic of a building. Real democracy is not something to be purchased & spun but belongs out on the streets with the people. Senator Scott Ludlam said it best:
Protest 03: Lockheed Martin
No corporations profits more from perpetual global warfare than Lockheed Martin. They are the world’s largest weapons manufacturer & instrumental in propagating these wars by influencing foreign policy through the use of lobbyists, political campaigns and mass media control
Protest 04: Raytheon
The global arms’ company that brought you cluster bombs & Tomahawk missiles. Their weaponry is being used on – civilian – populations all around the world.
Protest 05: K.B.R.
From building military bases to ‘investing’ in post-war reconstruction KBR profit from each and every aspect of war. This private contractor has received U.S. military contracts for WWII, Vietnam, Guantanamo Bay, Afghanistan and Iraq.
Protest 06: Australian Defence Force Academy (ADFA)
What better place to protest war than on a military base! ADFA is where young people are trained to kill and not to question authority.
Protest 07: Department of Defence
The Department of Defence the Bureaucrats of Evil: complicit in US geopolitical strategy. Illegal wars, mass surveillance, illegal drone strike programs, assassinations, torture and now the persecution of Asylum Seekers, the DoD is busy smearing your tax dollars in blood.
Protest 08: Defence Signals Directorate
You can learn the horrible truth about Canberra’s “Big Eagle on a stick” by watching this video:
Protest 09: ASIO
One of the most normal office blocks in the country. The car park is full of normal sedans and hatchbacks, customised plates and standard commuter motorcycles. Office workers having smoko out the front and a children’s playgroup and playground by the side of the building.
The only difference is that this is the building in which the government monitors and disrupts the lives of normal Australians: Trade Unionists, activists, Muslims, anyone that is deemed a threat or a potential source of use.
And here’s the kicker: ASIO has a long history of seeking out ex-soldiers, patriots and good-minded fellows to work for them, spy and gather intelligence on normal people but, when crunch time has hit, has then left their assets alone and abandoned. The recent TV series “Persons of Interest” had a number of stories from ex-ASIO operatives who described the ultimate feeling of isolation from friends and family and disconnection from wider society as they couldn’t establish real friendships.
If this is what they do to their own people, what do they do to their enemies?
by Zoidberg
Protest 10: Australian Strategic Policy Institute
ASPI claims to be a “non-partisan” Think-Tank that advises the Australian military & gouvernment. It is so “non-partisan” that it is is sponsored by: Lockheed Martin, Boeing, SERCO & Transfield to name but a few from our war profiteers rogue gallery!
The issue of whether long time care and life support for terminal patients is tantamount to torture or not is a delicate, complicated and as yet unresolved question in medicine.
Yet one cannot feel that former Senator Amanda Vanstone’s (Immigration Minister during the Howard years) suggestion that elderly and/or terminal patients seek advanced medical directives to cease treatment because of the savings that could be made and reinvested into the health sector are misguided and a tricksy form of support for Abbott’s health cuts.
In her column, she poses the question: “irrespective of your age, what [do] you think is reasonable to expect as free medication that would keep you going in a reasonable condition if you had a terminal diagnosis?” Her point is that people who want free access to hundreds of thousands of dollars of medical care a year should just “face the inevitable”, do us all a favour and die. As her article ostensibly focuses on the elderly and cites financial figures that would make most people wince: especially those whose only exposure to the cost of healthcare is rising private health insurance premiums and memes about ridiculously overpriced American medical care.
What Vanstone has failed to mention is that there are many Australians who suffer long-term, debilitating, life-threatening and/or terminal illnesses who are not elderly and that while the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme and private health insurance (for those who have good coverage) can go a long way the cost of healthcare in Australian can be crippling in itself. The issue of how much funding a person should receive for medical care should not centre around whether it is a fruitful investment. Governments have a responsibility to ensure that every person, regardless of age, illness, sexuality or race should have adequate and appropriate access to medical care.
This is a sly development in the continuing efforts to dismantle public and affordable healthcare in Australia and to destroy the living conditions that have been fought for over the last 150 years. Shortly before Vanstone urged the elderly and infirm to hurry up and die (quoting one “senior medical professional” who argues that all Australians over the age of 73 should have an Advanced Medical Directive or else lose access to Medicare entirely), an Abbott government Minister excused the raising of the pension age to 70 by saying that workers are now living too long and that having a retirement age that permits workers to actually retire (as opposed to dying at work or having to retire due to disability or impairment) is contrary to the intent of the original pension scheme. Together, Vanstone and the other MP want to create a situation where workers will have to work until well into old age and then be forced to sign a death warrant to retain access to public healthcare. This is if they can even afford access to public healthcare, with moves to introduce co-payments for GP visits and even emergency care to curb a non-existent but apparently potent moral threat from healthcare abusers.
Medical care for terminal and long-term illness sufferers can be debilitating, disturbing and at times even torturous. The medical community needs to find a more compassionate and caring solution to this problem and accept that euthanasia or the withholding of care from those patients for whom it will cause extra suffering should be considered. But this problem is not a window of opportunity for capitalists who wish to strip public healthcare to the bone and ultimately leave the wider community more exposed to illness and suffering. To them, the suffering of the ill is an inconvenience and an expensive one at that. We should look for a more holistic and caring solution that preserves the right for all people to receive medical care regardless of age, illness, sexuality or race.
Amanda Vanstone’s column was originally published by Fairfax and can be read here.
by admin·Comments Off on Mandatory Training and Marginalisation
Over the last few years a number of American state legislatures have acted to require high school students to undertake cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) training in order to graduate. Currently, Vermont, Virginia, Iowa, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Georgia and Alabama require students to obtain CPR certification and, come September when the new school year starts, they will be joined by Washington, Minnesota, North Carolina, Arkansas and Texas. With the American Heart Foundation reporting nearly 360,000 Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrests in 2013 (down from nearly 383,000 in 2012) there is a clear need to maximise the number of people who are able and willing to provide CPR assistance in an emergency.
In Germany and Switzerland it is necessary to obtain first aid certification when applying for a driver’s licence. In 2008, the EU Red Cross wrote to the European Commission [PDF] to recommend that first aid certification be made a mandatory requirement for all applicants for the European driver’s licence with re-certification to be undertaken every five years so that skills and knowledge could be kept current. In making this recommendation, the EU Red Cross produced strong arguments: they state that up to 85% of “preventable pre-hospital deaths” occur as a result of airway obstruction causing asphyxia before the arrival of emergency services and 57% of deaths occur within minutes of the initial crash. Clearly, having bystanders who are willing, able and equipped to provide assistance would lead to a reduction in deaths from road accidents. As they, somewhat bluntly, say:
Imagine a victim with severe bleeding following a road accident. If nobody applies pressure to the wound to stop the bleeding, even the most sophisticated or the quickest emergency service in the world will only arrive on the scene to certify death.
Mandatory training schemes are all well and good where adequate resources are available and flexibility and fairness can be assured. However, amongst marginalised communities these conditions are not guaranteed. In school districts where funding is tight, mandatory training may be a considerable burden even if additional funding is granted to cover the programme. It is often large, peak-body groups such as the American Heart Foundation or the Red Cross (or in Australia the Red Cross and St John) that are approved to provide training for education departments and while this does impart a certain guarantee of quality upon the programme the costs are often far and above what poor individuals and communities are able to afford. This becomes a problem when students miss organised training sessions due to work, family or health commitments/concerns or else are left behind because trainers are unable (or even unwilling) to cater to students with different literacy, language and physical requirements. The kid who misses a training session because they have to go to work or look after a family member may be in that situation because a parent or caregiver has been incapacitated by an injury or illness or else because the family income is very low: ironically and unfortunately, these are likely the kids who would benefit most from the training as they may be more likely to find themselves in a situation where CPR or first aid is needed.
If individuals or communities want to organise their own (unaccredited) training they face a major barrier in the prohibitive cost of training, equipment and supplies or else may have to choose to compromise on capacity and/or equipment to ensure at least something is available. Marginalisation, whether at the level of the individual or the community, is a vicious cycle. In the case of mandatory CPR training in high schools we should recognise that this is a sector already under attack, financially and culturally (such as through the undermining of scientific and rational education, censorship, entrenchment of privilege and campaigns to busty public sector unionisation) and that for marginalisation to be properly addressed there needs to be a profound and systemic overhaul of society, not just particular education departments and school districts.
In the meantime, there is a lot that can be done in the community to ensure that everyone has a good chance to receive, and provide, first aid and CPR. After all, as the EU Red Cross says, first aid is an act of humanity and a key responsibility of global citizenship so we should try to make sure access is universal. Street medics play an important role in this by “liberating” medical knowledge and skills and empowering the community to take its health into its own hands. Perhaps the most potent illustration of this was Occupy Sandy, an exercise in mutual aid put into effect by street medics in New York who provided medical and emotional support to survivors of Hurricane Sandy in 2012. This was a comprehensive, holistic and effective response to calamity and one episode amongst many of street medics providing care during crisis. Street medics across the world have also trained activists and marginalised communities in medical self-defence or provided clinical support where the state could not – or actively would not – provide help. It was actually with this in mind that street medicine came into creation: when the Medical Committee for Human Rights visited Tennessee in the early 1960s they witnessed first hand the effects of racist medical systems that deliberately excluded black patients. After seeing people die waiting for acute medical services because they had the wrong coloured skin, these medical professionals worked with black communities to create free clinics, health and education programs and brought wellness to people who the state refused to believe were human.
With regards to mandatory training schemes, street medics could help by helping to ensure that all communities have fair and reasonable access to CPR and first aid training, even if they are unable to accredit those people directly to the state’s requirements. They can also provide a context to ensure that CPR and first aid is relevant to these people and their situations so that there is an active engagement in ensuring communal well-being. Finally, by enacting a radical and holistic approach to healthcare, medics and the community will have a role to play in combating the wider iniquities and inequalities of capitalist society.
by Coggo·Comments Off on Street Medic Pro-Tip 31: Constricting ring removal
• You’re shoved to the pavement at a protest. You try to get back up but a cherry-red DM accidentally steps on your pinkies.
• On a picket an over zealous police officer grabs your hand to break the line.
• A politically neutral bee stings you as you try to swot it from your face.
A swollen finger is a perfectly normal body response to any of the above situations, but a tight fitting ring could cause all manner of problems. Constricting rings can lead to more intense swelling, poor lymphatic drainage, and even total loss of circulation to the poor affected digit.
Street Medics don’t as a rule carry ring cutters. That said, we appreciate that you’re attached to both your finger and your ring. That is why we’re keen to get that band of unyielding metal off your pinky as soon as possible.
Some things we as Street Medics might do as to help are:
–Apply ice and elevate asking you to hold your hand above your heart.
-We might lube your finger up (real good) with soap & water and ask you to twist the ring off yourself.
-If we suspect a fracture suggest you go to the Emergency Department and get an X-ray. In ED they are more likely to take an orthopaedic ring cutting device to your beloved ring.
-But, back in the field there’s also a near magical way of removing a ring using only a piece of string and it looks like this: (Though, this method does require a bit of practice.)
And remember, street medics really do care about blood perfusion to your fingers and thumbs. That is why, if we have any doubts suggest you remove the ring straight away. We NEVER remove people’s rings without consent, but if you are insistent you won’t remove the ring, we will politely & non-judgmentally explain we are worried about tissue and nerve damage to the digit.
After the accident and up to 24 hours later, look out for changes in the fingers’ colour, temperature & sensation. If the finger turns pale or blue, gets cold or painful, see a medical practitioner as soon as possible.
Street Medic’s are constantly adding supplies to their first-aid kits. In fact, over time we can accrue so much equipment, accessories, back-up supplies, rare & exotic devices and unnecessary medical baggage that our packs become a manual handling risk in themselves!
So, to go against the current of all those other blog posts indulging us to stuff our first-aid kits with all manner of sexy equipment, I have decided to write one about removing stuff from that over-sized, pregnant kit of yours!
1: LATEX SUCKS: About 1% of the population experiences hypersensitivity to latex. 1% might not sound much, but in Australia that equates to roughly 240,000 people with a latex allergy. Reactions to latex can range from minor skin irritation to hay-fever like symptoms … to full blown anaphylactic shock potentially resulting in death!
Street Medics always obtain consent before assisting a casualty, but in the heat of a direct action it is generally not possible to gain a full & concise medical history. Therefore it becomes us to limit the probability of exposing our comrades to potential harm … thus it is best practice when packing a first-aid kit to assume everyone has a Latex Allergy.
Only use vinyl or Nitrile gloves and check all your bandages, band-aids and plasters for a Latex-Free stamp. If in doubt about a piece of kit … ditch it.
2: STAINY BETADINE: Betadine and other iodine-containing topical treatments can be very irritating to the skin, and in some cases can cause tissue damage – in particular to people with a shellfish allergy. Another problem with Betadine is that it stains, which can make skin assessment later on particularly challenging.
So throw out all those old Betadine lotions in your first-aid kit and replace them with Chlorhexidine – or better yet good old fashioned Saline! In the field it is probably best to liberally irrigate wounds with normal saline and leave the antiseptic washes to later.
3: IMPROVISED BURN GELS: Stuff like petroleum jelly, toothpaste and even butter may have a certain DIY appeal when it comes to treating burns, but they really have no place in a Street Medics’ first-aid kit. Extensive burns are a medical emergency and need to be referred to a hospital as quickly as possible. In the Emergency Department they will have to take a brush to your improvised burn treatment in order to assess the wound beneath it. Ouchie!
So, out on an action – and if safe to do so – gently cool minor burns under running water. Severe burns that need hospital treatment will require dressing in clean, sterile non-stick gauze.
4: POINTY THINGS: Protests and civil disobedience really are not places where you want to be caught carrying 10 inch Acupuncture needles! The same could be said about suture sets. It’s great that you’re skilled in suturing wounds, but then again – even if you know what is the right kind of suture to use – is an urban demonstration the ideal locale to be sewing shut a gaping wound when there is a ambulance parked a few blocks away?
It is even advisable to think twice about the kind of bandage scissors you pack. Small blunt tip scissors are ideal and practical.
by admin·Comments Off on Bringing the Heat, in the Heat
In Melbourne we are rarely blessed with terrifically hot weather but, on occasion, we find ourselves sweltering in the heat of a 40°C+ day. Such hot weather poses a risk to protesters due to the possibility of dehydration or heat stress, and this can be compounded by particular methods of protest. Activists engaged in lock-ons or pickets may be unwilling or unable to leave the site, meaning they may be exposed to direct sun and wind for long periods of time and have difficulties getting water, food or relieving themselves. In order to ensure that they can engage in effective political action as long as possible, activists must come prepared with the right supplies and attitude to last the day.
Essential supplies:
Bottle of water (600mL – 1L);
A small snack, such as a museli bar or packet of lollies;
A hat;
Sunscreen, SPF30 or above;
Light, loose-fitting clothing that covers as much skin as possible.
Essential attitudes:
Rest Well, Rest Often. Get as much rest as possible before and after actions. Recharging your batteries helps to prevent burn-out and will lessen stress during actions.
Know your limits. By the time you’re feeling nauseous from the heat or feeling the burn from sunburn you have pushed yourself too far. Talk with your fellow activists about what you feel comfortable doing, how you’re feeling and about rotating out to ensure that everyone can stay healthy and happy. You may notice that in hot weather, police commanders will rotate their officers out either in teams, couples or individually to allow them to drink water, have a snack and sit out of the sun for a while: this enables them to maintain their presence all day, and similar actions should be taken by protesters where possible.
Sunscreen or Fry, Water or Die. In Australia, the risk of sunburn is very high, even on cloudy days. On 35°C+ days, the likelihood of getting sunburned after an hour in the sun is almost guaranteed and burns will take several days to recover from, even with care. Dehydration, as well as making you feel irritable, nauseous and dry-lipped, can lead to cramps, fainting and further medical problems. The body needs to take in at least 30 – 60mL of water an hour to produce the necessary urine for basic kidney function and this should be kept in mind during prolonged actions.
Street medics will often bring supplies of water and sunscreen to actions, but this is intended as a measure of last resort or treatment. Carting bulk supplies of water to and around actions comes with a physical and financial cost that many of us are unable to bear for very long. If long term actions or actions during extreme heat are planned, we encourage activists to prepare themselves accordingly and perhaps come together to organise a separate water affinity group who can make it a priority to ensure that activists are adequately hydrated and sun-screened.
This morning a number of medics from Melbourne Street Medic Collective attended the East-West Tunnel community picket of Lend Lease in Docklands in order to support and assist picketers. Lend Lease is being targeted as one of the fore-runners in the bidding process to build the East-West tunnel link. We have supported this campaign as individuals and as a collective for some time and plan to continue this support into the future.
This morning’s action was notable for the level of brutality and violence employed by Victoria Police against picketers. At last week’s picket, organisers arranged to allow non-Lend Lease workers to enter the building after showing ID, and a similar proposal was raised today. However, Victoria Police – seemingly reeling from the positive media coverage generated by last week’s picket – refused to allow this, and instead chose to use workers (mostly from Fujitsu) as tools to create violence and negative press coverage.
Instead of allowing small groups of workers to enter the building calmly and safely, Victoria Police used several members of the Critical Incident Response Team (CIRT) to break through the community picket and violently thrust workers into the building, while causing distress and injury to those on the picket. Victoria Police did not merely play a passive response to non-Lend Lease employees’ desires to enter the building: on a number of occasions, Victoria Police officers were seen chasing after workers who had decided not to cross the picket line in order to convince them to change their mind and provide another opportunity to inflict violence upon the peaceful picketers.
As a result of Victoria Police’s actions we were required to provide care for a number of injuries. These included minor injuries (cuts and scratches) as well as more serious ones: one person reported an injured shoulder, another received treatment for a sprained ankle. Two people were offered treatment after having their legs trampled and pinned by police and another received treatment for a head injury.
As well as providing care for injuries we provided water and rescue remedy to keep picketers hydrated and in good spirits and we can happily report that the mood was definitely positive.
It cannot be said more clearly that our need to provide medical care stemmed directly from Victoria Police’s decision to employ violence as a tactic to break the community picket. As was acknowledged in the debriefing session after the picket this morning, the Napthine Government’s use of violence to oppose the tunnel picket campaign is proof of their lack of solid justification for the project. The cynical use of workers as collateral in the attempt to destroy the tunnel picket campaign can only be condemned and shows that Victoria Police and the Napthine Government will go to great lengths to ensure this project will continue: even placing the safety of Victorians in jeopardy.
by Coggo·Comments Off on MelbSMC meets Progressive Podcast (The Interview)
At the beginning of the year a number of our crew were interviewed by Nick & Katie from Perth’s Progressive Podcast. We talked about the history of Street Medicine, Occupy (Melbourne), organizing using Anarchist principles, Activist Burnout and building Affinity Groups.
