Street Medics and Emergency Health Care

Street medics provide health care and first aid to protesters; at demonstrations, such medics can often be identified by red crosses or other such insignias. If there are no such medics in your region and an action is coming up, it’s important that some people take classes and be prepared to handle any emergencies that might arise. An affinity group undertaking a dangerous project should consider having a medic of its own, as well.

The most fundamental rule for anybody considering medicine and health do no harm. This, of course, is a pretty fundamental rule in all aspects of life. In terms of medical care, doing no harm means never trying anything you’re not certain of, never being ashamed to admit that you can’t help a person, and never hesitating to ask for help. Get as much training in as many aspects of medical care and general health as you can and always stay on top of your knowledge. It’s pretty easy to forget a specific treatment, so review and practice. Always have your own health and the health of those around you foremost in your mind.

Put together a first aid kit, equipped according to the materials you know how to use and the injuries that are likely in a given area or situation, and keep it with you, or in your vehicle, home, or communal space. Make sure to restock items you use and replace items when they become too old.

Preparing for Chemical Weapons Attacks

If you expect to be attacked with chemical weapons, wear a waterproof outer layer with tight cuffs and collar, and synthetic fibers under it. Cotton, wool, fleece, and just about anything else fuzzy soak up chemicals. Cover as much skin as possible. Before the action, wash yourself and all your clothes in fragrance-free, non-oil-based soaps. This gets rid of dead skin and the oils on you and your clothing, and will help prevent chemical weapons from sticking and causing more pain. Don’t use any oils on your skin: that includes perfumes, lotions, deodorants, and most sunscreens. These don’t provide barriers; in fact, they’ll make tear gas stick to you like glue.

Don’t shave for about a day in advance. Shaving opens your pores and makes chemical weapons more effective; on the other hand, hair absorbs chemical weapons too—it’s a fine line to walk. Take out any piercings you can, and put band-aids over the others so they don’t get hit or pulled out. Don’t wear tampons—they absorb chemical weapons, and if you go to jail and they’re left in, you could get toxic shock. Do not wear contact lenses. Chemical weapons get trapped under them and could even melt them onto your eyes.

If you wear a gas mask, choose one that won’t obscure your vision too much, with shatterproof lenses and replaceable non-asbestos filters. Alternatively, you can breathe through a bandanna soaked in apple cider vinegar or lime juice—transport the bandanna to the action in a sealed bag, and carry a lime or two with you to keep it fresh—and wear swimming goggles to protect your eyes. These can be obtained in prescription form for those who wear eyeglasses; when not wearing them over your eyes, keep them inside out on your forehead so they won’t fog up. You can add a particle mask underneath the bandanna for extra protection. All fancy gear will make you a police target, so try to keep it concealed.

Popular Chemical Weapons and their Effects

During chemical weapons attacks, you can blow your nose, rinse out your mouth, cough and spit, but don’t swallow or rub your eyes. If you are wearing contacts, try to remove the lenses, or get someone to remove them for you whose fingers are clean and uncontaminated.

Pepper spray and mace are most often deployed in a foam or liquid spray from small hand-held containers, or from larger devices that resemble fire extinguishers. Police have been known to swab them directly into the eyes of protesters who were locked down and unable to resist, presumably for the sole purpose of demonstrating themselves to be truly despicable. You feel the pain immediately in your eyes or on your skin, wherever the substance contacts you. The pain peaks in fifteen minutes and then starts to fade.

Tear gas is deployed in exploding canisters. It is an invisible substance, but police often mix it with a powder so it appears in an intimidating cloud. If the tear gas appears in such a cloud, you can watch which way it blows in the wind, and try to stay upwind. If you can’t see it, you sure will be able to tell when it reaches you. Tear gas canisters are hot enough to burn you; do not touch them unless you are wearing protective material, and not before they begin emitting gas, as they could explode and injure you. You won’t necessarily experience the effects of tear gas immediately; it could hit you up to five seconds after contact. Once you get out of the cloud, you’ll begin to feel better immediately, though it takes some time for your eyes to clear and the burning sensation to fade away completely. The most common symptoms are tears and a running nose, to such an extent that it can be impossible to see and difficult to breathe.

As with many repressive tactics, the use of tear gas is made most effective by the fear it inspires. The first time tear gas hits you, when you are still unfamiliar with its effects, it may seem more overwhelming than it really is; once you have been breathing it for a couple of days, and you know exactly what to expect from it, you’ll find that it is less debilitating than it seemed. In crowds fleeing from chemical weapons attacks, call out, “Walk, don’t run!,” and assist those in need, so panic does not result in trampling injuries.

Treatment and Decontamination

If someone has been sprayed in the eyes and mouth, you can flush out her eyes with water. A bottle with a squirt cap is ideal, but a spray bottle will work. Always irrigate from the inside corner of the eye toward the outside, with her head tilted back and slightly toward the side being rinsed. The flush needs to get into her eye to help, so if the sprayed person is comfortable with it, you should try to open her eye for her. She most likely won’t be able to open it herself, and opening her eye will cause her a temporary increase in pain, but it does help. This will work to rinse her mouth, too. During cold weather, do your best to keep yourself and the victim dry.

Affected skin can also be cleaned with water. Some trained medics use mineral oil followed immediately by alcohol, but others insist this is too dangerous a treatment. To do this, thoroughly wet a pad or similar material with mineral oil or, in a pinch, vegetable oil. Carefully avoiding the eyes, rub the exposed skin with mineral oil. Quickly wet another pad with rubbing alcohol, and vigorously rub off the mineral oil. This procedure must be completed in its entirety with each victim so treated—leftover mineral oil can trap any remaining chemicals on the skin.

If you have had any contact with chemical weapons, however superficial, assume that you are contaminated and carry traces of the chemicals with you wherever you go. Do not go into a safe zone or public place where you could contaminate anyone else. Shower in the coldest water possible to close your pores, and wash your clothes in the harshest nastiest detergent soap you can find. Sleep and drink water as much as possible. Good foods to eat after a contamination include miso, whole grains, brown rice, and citrus fruits, all organic of course. If you can find somebody with herbal knowledge, take dandock, burdock, and nettles to purge your liver and system.

In Case of Arrest

Plastic handcuffs can cause long-term nerve damage. If you feel any pain, numbness, or tingling, demand immediately, and keep demanding, that they be loosened. Don’t move around too much; that can cause plastic cuffs to tighten. When being cuffed, flex your muscles as much as possible to take up extra space inside the cuffs until they’re on.

If you have medical problems or are in jail with anyone who has an injury or needs medication, tell the police immediately, and keep reminding them. Use group pressure, and really keep at them. Days in jail with an untreated injury or without medication can be fatal.

If you are dependent on medication and are risking arrest, it is important that you have a note from a doctor explaining how important it is that you receive it. The note should state your name, your diagnosis, what would happen if the medication were interrupted, whether any substitutions at all can be accepted, and that you have to keep the medication on your person. Give copies of the note to the medical team, if you’re at an event at which there is one, and to your legal representation, and keep one on you with your identification. Bring a few days’ worth of medication and keep it in the original container. If you absolutely do not want to give away your identity to the police, but still need medication if you are arrested, you could request a note from your doctor with your photo on it instead of your name, and cut your name off the label of the container in which your medication was issued.

It may be possible to smuggle medication into jail. Place them in bags in your underwear or in obscure pockets, or in bodily orifices if need be.

When you get out of jail, talk about your experience before going to sleep. This significantly lessens the chance of post-traumatic stress. Eat easy-to-digest organic foods, such as whole grains and rice and cooked vegetables.