BoCo Street Medics

Digital security is physical safety. We operate in a legally precarious environment; these protocols exist to protect our patients and ourselves from surveillance and criminalization.

Official channels use the 🩹 emoji. Deployments utilize a dedicated Off-Site Dispatcher who holds legal names and triggers jail support protocols if a medic misses a check-in.

Patient Health Information is never broadcast unencrypted. Field photography is strictly forbidden.

Prioritize patient safety and maintain absolute operational security during active deployments.

Radio & Chatter: Radio operation requires proper training and licensing (inform the Bottom-Liner immediately if you cannot confidently use issued gear). Tactical channels must remain absolutely silent during deployments except for vital updates, as clutter hides calls for help.

State EMS: The Bottom-Liner manages or delegates dispatch communication when activating state EMS to minimize police interception risks (unless it is a time-sensitive emergency).

Media: Strict No Comment policy in the field. Medics treat patients rather than give soundbites.

Law Enforcement: We do not consent to warrantless searches and we do not volunteer patient identities to police.

Access is restricted to ensure safety; trust is verified rather than assumed. Roles are tiered based on age and experience. Field operations and gear cache access (which are strictly for logistical work, not social hubs) are limited to individuals 18 or older. Minors are restricted to off-site logistics. Access is a responsibility to steward resources, not a status symbol.

New volunteers enter the pipeline as Provisional Members for a skill verification phase. Once proven, they can advance to Core Members, who steward the collective. Experienced Core Members can act as Bottom-Liners, serving as the tactical safety anchors who ensure buddy pairs, proper PPE, and comms.

Provisional Members: Never deploy alone. They must be tethered to a Core Member, operate from collective trainee bags, and do not vote or hold keys.

Bottom-Liners & Safety: The Bottom-Liner has absolute authority to pull a team out of danger and will immediately remove anyone under the influence of drugs or alcohol (zero-tolerance policy).

Roster Maintenance: The Membership Working Group monitors activity to prevent burnout and ghosting. They manage sabbaticals, send check-in messages to inactive members, and facilitate graceful offboarding (retrieving keys/gear) if there is no response.

Roles are tiered between Volunteers and Core Members. Core Membership is not a status symbol, it grants access privileges (keys, door codes, independent pickups, internal Signal chats) required to facilitate logistics.

To move from Provisional to Core status, a volunteer must pass three strict skill-verification prerequisites:

Field Experience: Complete 5 field operations shadowed by a Core Member.

Skill Verification: Gain approval from existing Core Members confirming tactical and medical competency.

Proof of Certification: Present a valid medical credential (e.g., 20-hour Street Medic course certificate, WFA, EMT, Paramedic, or Nursing license).

You may only deploy if your skills are current and practiced. If your certification or skills have lapsed, you must refresh them before deploying again or temporarily transition to non-deployment roles.

Conflict is inevitable in high-stress environments. The goal is to manage behavior to keep the project functional rather than forcing friendship.

Initial interpersonal friction, handled at the lowest level possible.

Level 1: Direct Engagement.

Level 2: Supported Conversation with neutral witnesses.

If friction cannot be managed at lower levels, it escalates to Level 3 (Formal Facilitation).

The Working Group acts as facilitators and a mechanism of care rather than judges, relying on collective ratification for boundary plans while maintaining strict zero-tolerance for severe clinical or ethical violations.

Level 3 Formal Facilitation, burnout/trauma concerns, formal external reviews (community complaints against medics), and clinical malpractice.

The group investigates facts and drafts a boundary plan. This group can mandate a leave of absence to address secondary trauma and burnout. They also handle external reviews and grievances. Once drafted, a dry, factual Redacted Summary of the boundary plan is presented to the broader Core Membership for ratification through consensus.

Operating outside of scope, practicing without a license, or violating patient privacy completely bypasses the standard escalation ladder. These severe violations trigger an Immediate Precautionary Suspension rather than standard mediation.

Move slowly on policy to build deep agreement. This prevents burnout and ensures decisions are not made only by the loudest voices.

Strategic decisions (peacetime manual amendments, onboarding, broad policy changes). Standard Operating Procedures (packing lists, radio frequencies) live in a separate "Living Archive" and are exempt, updating instantly.

100%

Standard policy proposals are subjected to the 15-day model for review and adoption.

Emergency policies are strictly temporary. If they are not ratified through this standard 15-day process within two weeks, they automatically expire.

Move fast on tactics and crises to keep people safe, without allowing emergency powers to become permanent policy.

Urgent crises that cannot wait 15 days (e.g., legal threats, lease losses).

75%

Any Core Member can trigger an Emergency Vote. Voting takes place within a 24-hour window.

To prevent abuse, any decision passed via Emergency Vote must be formally ratified by the standard 15-day lazy consensus process within two weeks, or it is automatically voided.

Comply on the street, debrief in the living room. Rely on specialized groups for daily operations and an Incident Command System (ICS) for tactical safety. We explicitly reject funding that compromises political autonomy.

Tactical field operations and daily operations (e.g., Finance Working Group managing routine purchasing via ethical, grassroots crowdfunding).

The Bottom-Liner acts as Incident Commander during deployments. Specialized Working Groups independently handle daily operations. Every action requires a mandated, rigorous debrief so the collective can learn and adapt.

If the Bottom-Liner loses the confidence of the entire deployment team, they must immediately designate a new leader on the spot to safely evacuate.