gintoki enjoyer: UPDATE ON TEAR GAS INFORMATION

28 November 2014

1:04am

UPDATE ON TEAR GAS INFORMATION - MILK INEFFECTIVE, SPREADS BACTERIA

shay-something submitted to fairysharkmother

Milk is naturally acidic (actually) and thus acts to disrupt the Ph balance of the eye. Not that serious. Except that people who are sticking milk in spray bottles and then carrying them around for hours are usually not also lugging fridges around, so the milk spoils or begins to spoil (since pasteurization only keeps things kosher when it’s in it’s original sealed container). So people then basically spray bacteria into their eyes which IS REALLY NOT GOOD. THIS CAN LEAD TO EYE INFECTIONS.
NOT TO MENTION IT JUST DOESN’T WORK
As advised by both the CDC and the Action Medic Wikia (a collection of groups that attend protests and dispense first aid and first responder care) THIS is the proper protocol for responding to chem weapons:
PREPARE: Do not wear contacts (they trap the pepper spray and can adhere to your eye), stay as unexposed as possible (the less skin showing = the less skin burning), and BRING A WATER BOTTLE WITH A GOOD SQUIRT TOP (you should be able to aim and squirt at a target with it)
1) Stay calm and get away from source - panic only makes things worse, pepper spray hurts a lot but it’s very survivable! Get to somewhere that you can sit down and treat yourself/be treated
2) Rinse, rinse, rinse - Put that squirty bottle to use! Chem weapons attack mucous membranes, so rinse your mouth, nose, and eyes. This may take several rinses until to clear away. Here is a action medic how-to video on doing a proper eye rinse. Even if you don’t ever expect to be pepper sprayed, knowing how to rinse eyes is a great skill to have! Eyes are delicate, and it’s easy to get irritants in there— even around the house (hot sauce, icy hot, tiger balm, meat spices, pepper, lemon juice- not fun!)
3) Hit the showers! - the pepper spray may be out of your eyes, but it’s still in those clothes! Get home and get naked ASAP, touching the least amount of things in your home possible. Stick everything in a plastic bag and toss it (you can try and save it, but thats a lot of work for another day). TAKE SEVERAL COLD SHOWERS. Chem weapons bind to the skin and hot showers will open up those pores, making it feel like you’re getting sprayed all over again. Lather, rinse, repeat and repeat again.
I have been a member of Chicago Action Medical which has existed and been providing medical care at protests and political actions since 2002. We currently have people on the ground in Ferguson and were the main medic collective sending folks down there to train native St. Louis medics.
If you have the ability and proclivity to donate, we currently have a Ferguson fund that is being used to enable medicking to the St. Louis area.
PLEASE STAY SAFE AND TREAT YOUR BODY WELL!