Volunteer group provides medical aid to those at Austin protests
Volunteer group provides medical aid to those at Austin protests
Sporting pink clothing and red crosses, Street Medics Austin volunteers can be found at APD headquarters, Austin City Hall and the Texas State Capitol.
AUSTIN, Texas - A group of volunteers is out in downtown to protect protesters if need be.
Street Medics Austin started up as just five volunteers ready to provide medical aid to anyone who needs it at the protest, now they have over 500 volunteers.
RELATED: ATCEMS responding to wide variety of injuries during protests
"It's been a crazy week," said chief of operations Toby Heidal. "We provide emergency services and basic first aid in situations where traditional emergency services may not be able to for any variety of reasons."
Sporting pink clothing and red crosses, Street Medics Austin volunteers can be found at APD headquarters, Austin City Hall and the Texas State Capitol. The idea for the group formed as soon as protests in Austin were announced.
ATCEMS responding to wide variety of injuries during protests
From heated exchanges to the actual heat, ATCEMS has been busy assisting and responding to injuries this past week.
"Literally a week ago, we knew that there were protests planned downtown here," Heidel said. "And our idea was essentially just to come down here and set up a card table and maybe give out some snacks and water, some cold towels."
However, as protests began to escalate, their need became much, much greater.
RELATED: Health officials: If you participated in protests in Austin, you should be tested for COVID-19
"It's like nothing I've ever done. I mean, I've been in emergency services for 25 years," Heidel said. "We provided a lot of care last weekend for people who had been exposed to CS gas and pepper spray. And then a lot of trauma from the baton rounds."
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Jesse Early says he started off as a protester last weekend, but as things got worse, he ended up part of the Street Medics Austin team.
"I was treating people that had been shot point-blank, shoved to the ground and shot in the foot or the ankle," Early said. "We started helping them with triage as soon as they started having people come into the bench shop with beanbag rounds. And we just ended up staying for the rest of the day."
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Street Medics Austin helping people injured in local protests
Operations Director with Street Medics Toby Heidel talks about the organization and its work.
Street Medics Austin plans to continue until protests are over. "Hopefully, I mean, our long term goal and our long term hope is that in a few months, we can show up at a peaceful march at the Capitol and give out a few band-aids and a couple of bottles of water," Heidel said. "Because that was the original intent."
Anyone who comes out to protest and needs medical assistance can look for the volunteers in pink, who are usually stationed under the overpass.
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