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: eastern-seedsofpeace-AT-riseup.net. To join our medic announcement list, go to lists.aktivix.org/mailman/listinfo/pittsburgh-medical and follow the subscription instructions.

We hope to see you there!

- the medical organizers -


The organizers:

G20 Resistance Project
resistg20.org/

Pittsburgh Organizing Group
www.organizepittsburgh.org/

The events:

International Pittsburgh Coal Conference, September 20-23
www.engr.pitt.edu/pcc/

G20 Summit, September 23-25
www.pittsburghsummit.gov/