What To Do If You're Hit By Tear Gas Or Pepper Spray While Protesting
Police across America are deploying pepper spray and tear gas against demonstrators seeking justice for Black victims of police violence, such as George Floyd, who died in Minneapolis while a white officer pressed on his neck and ignored his pleas that he could not breathe.
If you go to a protest, you need to prepare for a hostile environment. Some law enforcement officials have responded to protests with violence by charging into crowds, assaulting and arresting peaceful protesters. On Monday, federal police in riot gear used gas and flash-bangs to disperse a peaceful crowd of protesters near the White House, just so President Donald Trump could walk to a nearby church for a photo-op.
To avoid panicking in the moment, you should plan what to do if you or the people around you are exposed to chemical irritants that make you temporarily unable to function. While tear gas and pepper spray are chemically different, the best remedy for both is to flush it out of your eyes with water, and to get the chemicals out of your environment, according to Dr. Diane Calello, executive and medical director of the New Jersey Poison Center and an associate professor of emergency medicine at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School.
But there’s plenty more you need to know.
What is pepper spray?
Pepper spray, also known as oleoresin capsicum, is a combination of chile extracts. Although pepper spray is widely available for purchase, the kind you are likely to face at a protest is a much more concentrated dose of capsaicin, the active ingredient in oleoresin capsicum.
“The pepper spray we can buy as citizens of the United States has a much lower concentration than the pepper spray used by law enforcement,” said Dr. Kelly Johnson-Arbor, co-medical director of the National Capital Poison Center.
Tear gas and pepper spray both cause intense burning and irritation of the eyes, nose, mouth, respiratory system and skin, Johnson-Arbor said.
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