As protests start ramping up and violence escalates please remember:
DO NOT PUT MILK IN YOUR EYES FOR PEPPER SPRAY OR TEAR GAS.
It can and will cause infection due to bacteria. Flush with water, distilled if possible, and never EVER wear contact lenses to protests where there may be police retaliation.
Please reblog. It may save someone's sight.
I'm going to either find or make my own post about this but I'm a street medic, I was trained by the Black Rose organization medical branch during Occupy and have since done my own research with papers written for and by the cops and military about treating chemical agent exposure. this is correct, please do not use milk. I'm not sure about distilled water because I haven't seen it used in any papers or ok the ground, but my suspicion is that while it is probably not harmful, the osmotic qualities of distilled water may hurt or cause contact damage to the mucus membranes of the eyes. in addition, riot control chemicals are mostly designed to be water-activated and plain water will make the exposure sites hurt worse with minimal benefit besides flushing out any particles that aren't glued on with the oil medium they use for these agents.
in at least one study, the research on tear gas and pepper spray exposure showed that plain water was so painful that most cops who volunteered to be test subjects for treatment trials refused to use it, opting instead to just wait until they could shower or for the chemicals to degrade on their own. this is a pretty important indicator of both cops being mega pussies, and that plain water isn't very effective at treating riot control chemical injuries.
the substance that tested best in multiple trials was sterile buffered saline solution. in other words, the same stuff that comes in the squirt bottles for cleaning your contact lenses. this is a useful tool to carry into a protest because the squirt bottle makes it easy to direct the flow of water over the surface of the eyeball. trials also showed that putting this solution into your eyes prior to exposure cut down on discomfort quite a bit. in practice, this looks like putting in some clean eye drops from the drug store before you are exposed to riot weapons.
remember, if you are injured in a protest, call "medic!" out loud and street medics will find you. this has been standard protest practice for decades.
onions and milk and vinegar should not go in your eyes. I've seen all three recommended for tear gas treatment and I do not think they are a good idea or that they will work. stick to sterile saline or LAW (liquid antacid + water).
consider carrying an osha-approved eyewash bottle for easier application
also, please wear a helmet and buy a gas mask
