San Diego Pride

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Responsibilities: 

The parade BLS medical volunteer will be responsible for providing basic first aid and BLS medical care to pride staff and volunteers who are helping set up the San Diego Pride parade the day of as well as viewers who are watching the pride parade and the contingents who are walking in the parade. The medical volunteer will work closely with the department director to assist with set up and organization of the medical site and will respond to medical calls as needed. In the case of an emergency, the medical volunteer will collaborate with the department director to coordinate emergency medical service response, patient monitoring and transport. 

Location:

Check in with the volunteer hospitality table at the parade staging area and let them know you are a medical volunteer for the parade. Once arrived and checked in, text or call the parade medical coordinator Lashandra and they will let you know where to go from there. (Contact information will be provided at the training sessions and will be provided in the weeks leading up to the event). 

Accessibility:

Medical volunteers are responsible for providing direct, hands-on care to patients and must be flexible/adaptable and comfortable in a crowded environment. Volunteers must be able to stand and walk for long periods of time, perform moderate to heavy lifting, and must understand standard precautions, safety regarding sharps and health monitoring equipment (including automatic blood pressure cuffs, pulse oximeters, stethoscopes, glucometers) and the importance of hand hygiene. Training will be provided to all volunteers regarding these safety topics. Prior accommodations can be arranged for medical volunteers on a case-by-case basis and will need to be discussed with Sav at least three weeks in advance.

Requirements and Training:

All San Diego Pride BLS medical volunteers are required to possess a minimum of an active Basic Life Support (BLS) certification from the American Heart Association (AHA) or the American Red Cross (ARC). Hospital equivalents like RQI and BART are also accepted, but no other BLS certificates will be accepted. It is not required for the medical volunteer to be a healthcare worker. All certificates must be emailed to medical@sdpride.org for verification. There will be trainings for the medical volunteers:

• a mandatory virtual medical volunteer training session that will go over the duties and policies of the department and other important information (multiple dates TBA)
• an optional in-person medical skills day where department leadership will provide hands-on training in BLS/CPR (option for full BLS certification here), trauma first aid and "Stop the Bleed", narcan and epi pen administration, training on heat illnesses, and other topics (multiple dates TBA)

Benefits:

All medical volunteers will be given a free pride medical T-shirt to keep, they will have access to free food and drink throughout the duration of their shift, and will also be given a free two-day entry pass to the San Diego Pride festival. There is also a verification of hours form that can be given to volunteers to validate their service hours. 

Contact:

Please reach out to Sav at sav.breaker@sdpride.org if you have any questions and to send your active credentials so they can approve you for the shift. We in the medical department look forward to having you on the team this year!