Tear Gas: Mode of Attack

Cyre2067

Cyre2067

The Living Force
In the spirit of knowledge protects i was reading an article on tear gas (expecting my exposure to it some day) and wanted to drop ya'll the link.

http://www.phrusa.org/research/chemical_weapons/chemjama.html

This is a more unbiased source then most, and gives many of the often played-down side effects.

To sum up, when exposed you're skin and eyes will burn. You'll tear profusely and blink uncontrollably. Coughing is common and you should NOT swallow the phlegm (it contains the compound) but spit it out to save your digestive tract some worry. Rinsing affected areas with clean water and getting out of the immediate area of the gas is advised. A moist cloth over your face may help, might not depending on the variety of gas used. The most common types are CS and CN and both are pretty nasty and used throughout the US and UK.

Enjoy!
 
I have had the experience of tear gas, and can confirm just how unpleasant it is. The venue was the WTO protests in Seattle; I had wanted to see 'up close' what was going on instead of watching from the top of our building in the financial district.

Well, I certainly managed to do so! Picture a guy in a business suit, walking along and mainly minding his own business, then being caught between multiple canisters of tear gas exploding around him.

A couple of things stand out in the memory of that experience:

* after I got hit and was really suffering from the effects, I tried to gain entrance to a bank to get out of the cloud. There were people directly inside the glass door; they could clearly see me (and others) and watched the whole event occur. Did they let me in? Not a chance; in fact, I still remember the wry smile one of them had when I asked with tears & mucus flowing down my face. Remember, I'm in a business suit -- supposedly, one of "them"...

* fortunately, one of the "true" protesters had a 5-gallon jug of water mixed with baking soda, which really did the trick. It doesn't neutralize all the sting, but it helps when you have been brought to your knees by this stuff. Did the protester withhold the mixture because I was a guy in a business suit? No, she helped. This was quite a few years ago, when I was first waking up to the world, and this was certainly a *strong* shock to the system.

* another thing I remember very clearly was the number of protesters trying to HOLD BACK the violent protesters. COINTELPRO would have meant nothing to me then, but I do remember thinking how odd it was, and how those few very violent individuals did not seem to belong to any of the numerous groups there protesting. Comparing my eyewitness view to the news reports later on (this was back in the days when I still watched TV) was also very eye-opening, as was the reaction my friends & family had to my experience vs. what they wanted to believe (and had been told to believe) about what was going on.

Would I recommend a first-hand experience to know these things? No, I don't think so, not with rubber bullets flying around you and no help in sight. But I am seeing how valuable the experience was now ...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom