Medical

This is the homepage for the Health Team of Occupy Boston.

Donations & Supply Requests

[coming soon!]

Donations we DO NOT accept

[to be expanded]

• prescription medication and controlled substances (including asthma inhalers)
• items containing ingestible alcohol (including mouth wash and over-the-counter cold medicine)
• hypodermic needles
• injectable medication(s)

Contact Info

You can reach the Occupy Boston Health Team at our Health Tent (marked by a big red cross flag) or via e-mail at occupybosmedic@gmail.com

Are you working with a Health or Medic Team at another Occupation?  We'd love to talk to you about our experiences organizing our health tent and hear your stories, suggestions, and problem-solving.  Email occupybosmedic@gmail.com and we can get back to you by phone or e-mail.

Are you repping some kind of media?  Please *don't* contact us by e-mail.  We are organized horizontally and without 'representatives' so no person can speak for the entire health team except for the few policies which we have collectively consensed upon (listed below).  Some medics do agree to do interviews, but they do so as individuals and speak from their own beliefs, experience, and individual perspective, not as respresentative of the Health Team.

How to Volunteer

We ask all volunteers to have at least a recent Red Cross First Aid/CPR certification or a competency in mental health, social work, complementary therapies, or public health. 

While we do occasionally offer extended first aid trainings, we ask that you not volunteer with us until after you've recieved one.  You can also take a class with the Red Cross (http://www.bostonredcross.org).

To volunteer, please e-mail occupybosmedic@gmail.com with you name, contact info, and an explanation of you experience and skillset.

How we organize ourselves

[coming soon!]

Health Team Protocols & Policies

The following Protocols and Policies have been consensed on by the Health Team at our weekly meetings.  All decisions are welcomed to be revisited, edited, and changed as needed through consensus process at meetings, or in the case of smaller decisions, over e-mail.

Health Tent Standards of Care

General guidelines for all Occupy Boston Medics:

• Wear gloves

 Regardless of whether you are dealing with or expect to deal with bodily fluids

• Ask for consent from the person seeking care

We respect the rights of people to make decisions for their own bodies and treatment.

• Stay within your Scope of Practice

Do not provide treatment outside of or above what you are trained to do.  Get help: refer the patient elsewhere or call for an Occupy Boston medic with more training.

• Follow “Do No Harm” protocols

Restrict your treatment to practices with effects that can only be neutral or helpful to patients given your training and experience.  Remember we are a phone call from 911.  See medic.wikia.com for examples.

Health Tent Intake and Assessment Protocol

Guidelines for all care at the Occupy Boston Health Tent:

• Introduce yourself and identify your skill level to the person seeking care

My name is X and I am an EMT/RN/First Aid certified/Social Worker, etc.

• Ask for consent

“Is it ok if I treat you?”

• Ask open-ended questions to figure out what the issue is, how the person seeking care would like to treat the issue, and if there are underlying or hidden issues at play:
  • “What’s your name?”
  • “How would you like me to refer to you (name, gender pronoun)?”
  • “What’s going on?”
  • “Tell me what happened”
  • “Has this happened before?”
  • “How do you treat it usually?”
  • “Is there anything else we should know about you before we treat you?” (pre-existing condition; recent substance use; support system; fears or anxiety)
  • “Have you eaten, drank, slept, kept warm, gone to the bathroom in the past 12 hours?”
  • “What’s been going on for you in the last 24 hours?”
  • “Do you have any allergies? Are you allergic to any medications?”

• Explain treatment options and ask them what they prefer.

Again, ask for consent if you plan to treat them (think about referrals and your own level of training; ask for help if needed)

• If they consent, provide treatment
• Fill in the log book

Intake and Assessment Protocol for Mini-visits

When people are just popping in for a medication, band aid, cough drop, still be sure to ask:

• “Are you allergic to any medications?”
• “Have you taken this medication recently? When and how much?”
• If necessary, educate the person seeking care about dose and possible side effects of the medication

Health Tent Logbook Protocol

All logbook entries should follow this format:

• Patient identifiers:
  • First initial of patient*
  • age (optional)
  • gender (optional)
• Condition that was treated
• Type of treatment provided
• Notes/concerns
• Need for follow up
• Name of person who provided care and their phone number.

• Avoid using specific identifying information for patients (don’t use full name or specific descriptions)

THE LOGBOOK MUST REMAIN IN THE MEDIC TENT AT ALL TIMES

Explanation:
The goal is to ensure both patient privacy to the highest degree while still allowing future medics to have the information necessary to treat returning patients.

Health Tent Shift Protocol

[coming soon!]

Health Tent Supply Guidelines

[coming soon!]

Health Team Neutrality Guidelines

• On marches, medics marked with a red cross will act "tactically neutral"

They will support the march by their presence but refrain from engaging in the tactics of the march (like chanting or carrying banners).  If youare 'on duty' (i.e. wearing medic markings), you are a medic first.  Feel free to carry first aid supplies without identifying yourself as a medic if you want to be ready to help but also engage in the protest.

• Get consent before engaging in political, emotional, and counseling-type discussions amongst medics, and refrain from doing so while patients are present

Respect each others' diverse viewpoints, stress levels, and desires by asking before plowing into any charged discussions while 'on duty' (in the Health Tent, running as a marked medic).  Keep this stuff just between medics, so as not to alienate folks seeking care (again, only applies while 'on duty').

• Political signs/clothes/etc: While 'on duty' (marked as a medic, in the Health Tent), be conscientious of the impact these may have on folks seeking care

Dress and act in ways that are approachable and do not exclude people from care.  We respect that this is a political event and many of us are here for specific political reasons.  Use your judgment.

Health Tent Media Policy

• No media of patients (even with their consent) or care
• No media inside the tent; keep the area outside the tent relatively clear & accessible
• To interview an offduty medic, get consent and do it in a different location

Explanation:

The purpose of the media policy is to ensure the Health Tent space is kept clear and accessible for patients and care.  Even if everyone currently at the tent consents to media, we do not know who is choosing to stay away because of media's presence.  In an emergency, extra bodies and equipment add distraction, crowding, and invasion of privacy-- best to keep them away entirely.  Note this policy does NOT interfere with medics/health folks giving interviews, but do it only while someone else can cover the tent, and do it in a different location.

Resources for Health Team Members

[links, handouts, referals, etc etc coming soon!]

Resources for All Occupy Boston Participants

[links, handouts, referals, etc etc coming soon!]

---

Based on: Medical at wikispaces