Who are the 'street medics' showing up at protests around the world?

With their helmets and red crosses, they're a regular sight at protests around the world. Street medics. In Hong Kong during the pro-democracy protests, in Chile and even in France in recent weeks, these volunteer medics come to offer assistance to protesters, cleaning the eyes after exposure to tear gas, applying bandages or simply providing support. Street medics are nothing new, they date back to the civil rights movement in the United States in the 1960s when activist doctors first emerged. But it was decades later in 1999 during the anti-globalization protests on the fringes of the WTO summit that the contemporary movement was revived. Since then, these activists, sometimes qualified health care professionals or those with first aid training, have made it their mission to help demonstrators after their confrontations with police. In France, it was during the Yellow Vest movement that the presence of street medics became widespread following the controversial use of rubber bullets and the significant number of injuries among demonstrators. Volunteers, activists or demonstrators? These street medics have no specific status or official structures, yet they've become an indispensable part of contemporary social movements.