Guerilla Nursing; Street Medicine, Activism, and Health Care Under Fire

This book grew from a clear-eyed recognition: medicine and politics cannot be separated when the act of caring is itself treated as a crime. In states where authority turns hostile, in protest zones and refugee camps, healing becomes a form of resistance. Guerilla nursing is not simply about dressing wounds — it is about protecting identities, defying repression, and building structures of solidarity where formal systems have broken down.

Across these chapters, we trace how medics navigate legal uncertainty, use encryption and anonymisation to protect patient data, and wrestle with ethical dilemmas where transparency collides with survival. We follow the courage of frontline healers who, under surveillance and threat, choose to heal as an act of defiance. Their work shows us that neutrality is not always possible, and that care itself can be a form of political resistance.

This text is not only a guide but also a statement of principle. It documents solidarity networks that cross borders, linking medics from Hong Kong to Standing Rock, from Chile to refugee camps. It imagines future infrastructures where decentralised, community-based health systems respond to climate disasters, displacement, and authoritarian surveillance.

Each chapter is designed to be both instructive and reflective. Every section offers practical strategies, ethical frameworks, and case studies, while also posing questions that invite readers to consider their own place in the struggle for health justice. This book is for medics, activists, scholars, and communities who believe that healing cannot be separated from liberation.

In writing this, I hope to honour the courage of those who risk everything to care under fire. Their work reminds us that medicine is not only about bodies — it is about dignity, solidarity, and survival. Guerilla nursing is resistance medicine, and resistance medicine is the future of care.