On the Front Lines With Valley Street Medics

Casey and April have seen more than their fair share of political violence against protesters by police. As volunteer medics in different parts of the country, both have witnessed violence such as tear gas and orbital fractures. At their request, Casey is identified by first name only, and April is a pseudonym. 

They say the injuries they've seen are shocking, but Arizona’s protests present are different: heat-related illness and accidental falls are more typical at Valley demonstrations. 

And what’s more challenging: They say that is partly because of who is protesting in Arizona, which includes a large older population.

Medical support is a critical asset for any event expecting thousands of attendees, and when politically charged crowds gather in spaces not built for public events, safety issues compound. Shade is inadequate. Water is crowd-sourced. There is nowhere to sit.

To the healthy and able-bodied, these can be inconveniences, but since today’s Valley protesters appear to skew older, it makes those seemingly small problems more serious for participants.

April is a member of the Phoenix Urban Health Collective (PUHC), where she lends her expertise as a nurse. Casey founded Phoenix Frontline Medics (PFM) in 2022. These are two of several all-volunteer street medic teams that serve anyone at protests and political events. They have also noticed the need to make protests safer for Arizona’s growing and transplanted older population.

LOOKOUT writer Jack Fernandez spoke separately with Casey and April about how protests have evolved, what it is like providing care in extreme heat and their takeaways from the Phoenix protest scene. The interviews have been edited for length and clarity.

Jack Fernandez (LOOKOUT): Of the actions people are doing, what do you think makes a difference?

CASEY: I’ve changed my mindset a lot over the years. You can’t just go at it one way. There need to be completely peaceful drum-circle-style protests. There need to be ones where you are up in Congress’ face holding signs and yelling at them. There is a sliding scale, and it is important to do it all, because some people are not going to be able to attend the more aggressive protests or they do not want to. Some people have disabilities. So there is a time and place for every kind of protest, and I think it all works.

LOOKOUT: Is there a relationship between what is making your job as a hospital nurse more difficult and what is making your activist work more difficult?

APRIL: Capitalism is making my life and my job and everything more difficult. This is not new information. Cutting people’s health care costs everybody more money, with worse outcomes. You have people who are afraid to go to the doctor or the hospital because they do not want to be whisked off by ICE, which is a very valid concern.

LOOKOUT: How do you find upcoming events to support?

CASEY: The last thing on anyone’s mind, typically, is medical support at events. That is why we proactively look for events. Typically there is no formal coordination. I am in a lot of groups. I am in, I think, 50-something Signal groups.

LOOKOUT: How is it that you look visually separate from the protests?

CASEY: With our team, you are either at an event as a protester or as a medic, and you are never going to cross those two roles. When we are there, we are wearing our uniforms. We wear no pins, no buttons. We do not hold signs. We do not chant. We do not yell. We do not flip people off. It is as if the event itself is not happening. We are there to look for people in need and help them.

LOOKOUT: What is it you wish people knew about the value of these different forms of action?

CASEY: It is OK to protest in more than one way at the same time. If you do not like how protests are being done, help spark another protest that is more your style and get like-minded people involved. It is OK to have several types of protests at several spots, several topics, several groups and several times. It does not have to be one thing at a time.

LOOKOUT: Were folks a bit older at the last No Kings?

CASEY: Yeah, definitely. It was an older population, and the people who took falls were older, and it complicates things. We have to be mindful to get a patient’s history and what medications they are on. The elderly are typically on quite a few medications, and anything that affects clotting is a big consideration for us.

LOOKOUT: If someone went to all the No Kings and they were looking for more and they were a neighbor of yours, where would you point them?

APRIL: I would point anybody to what already exists. Look at who has been doing work in your community for a long time. Maybe you should not look at whoever is blasting a sign. Maybe you should look for who is actually doing work in your community.

LOOKOUT: What differences have you seen in terms of how effective a demonstration is?

APRIL: We are not here to police the movement. If somebody wants to do something and this is how they want to express themselves, we are not going to go out of our way to say, “No, do not do it like that.” I think there are a lot of lessons to be learned from people who have been around a long time.

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