BRATTLEBORO, Vermont – November 9th-11th, the AIDS Project of Southern Vermont will sponsor a 20-hour first aid and healthcare advocacy training intended to strengthen the LGBTQ community’s ability to recognize health emergencies and advocate for patients accessing emergency care. Training costs $25, with scholarships available. The Brattleboro location will be announced at a later date. Advanced registration is required – contact men@sover.net to register. LGBTQ community allies are welcome to attend.
The training will be conducted by members of the Rosehip Medic Collective in Portland, OR – a queer volunteer street medic collective who specialize in first aid trainings for communities underserved by the medical system. Assisted by local trainers, the Rosehip Medics will make sure this intensive weekend training is packed with hands-on practice, practical skills and discussion. Participants will leave with patient assessment skills, the ability to recognize and plan for a variety of health emergencies, and a greater ability to network within their local communities in emergency situations. In addition, they will learn tools for advocating for themselves and peers within the emergency healthcare system.
This training comes just as the HIV prevention programs of the AIDS Project are suffering drastic funding cuts and changes. The Men’s Program, a longtime prevention model that fostered broad-based healthy community building, will be ending in December, and new programs will be beginning in January.
This intensive weekend will serve to empower the local LGBTQ community with health knowledge to carry into the future, as the landscape of local programming changes.
HIV prevention programming will be continuing at the AIDS Project in 2013, focusing on the new national goals and models set forth by the Centers for Disease Control. Gay and bisexual men continue to be a priority population to be served – the models to do so are adapting following changes in the medical treatment field.
The first aid/healthcare advocacy training runs Nov. 9th from 6:00 – 9:30 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday Nov. 10th & 11th from 9:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. Trainees are required to attend the entire training, as skills build on each other.
For more information about the training, or to register, email men@sover.net or call (802) 254-4444 x112.
