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Tear gas?


Alpo

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I've never been gassed, so have to ask. Is there anything that you can put in the eyes to relieve it, or do you just have to wait for your tears to cry your eyes clean?

 

As I've mentioned in a thread or two, I'm reading the Nancy Drew series, before handing them over to my grandgirls. In many of the books (I'm currently on #18) Nancy and her two friends get mildly hurt, and someone always puts a "soothing solution" on the boo-boo. They never go further into the medicinal than that - a cut, a sprain, a mild burn and they get a "soothing solution" put on, which makes it all better.

 

In this one the girls get tear-gassed, and the doctor puts a soothing solution in their eyes. Just curious as to whether such a critter existed.

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CS Gas, the type I experienced in Basic Training, effects multiple systems, not just the eyes. It acts on the eyes, the mucus membranes and the skin as an irritant. In addition to tears, it causes difficulty breathing, copious amounts of mucus drainage from the nose, and an uncomfortable burning itching of the skin. For the eyes, the best thing I am aware of is a saline flush, to remove it from the eyes. For the skin, lots of water and soap. For the upper respiratory system, time.

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Basically....no magic relief.

 

Tear gas (CN or the stronger CS) is one thing, pepper spray is another.

Cn and CS effect the eyes, mucous membranes and upper respiratory system. This results in tearing, coughing and hollering with waving of arms.

Pepper spray (Oleoresin capsicum) affects mostly the eyes and is really painful can be mitigated with lots of water.

Both are unpleasant. I prefer not to be exposed to them again.

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Sticking your head in the dairy case helps.

 

I worked in a grocery store in high school. One spring evening as we were closing up, we had to bring in some of the stuff that was on display outside the store. (Lawn mowers, grass seed, etc.) I had to bring in a big wire basket of onion sets that were starting to go funky, and my eyes were watering afterward from the smell. I thought. I went back out to get some more stuff and my eyes hurt even worse. I went back inside and stuck my head in the dairy case to cool my eyes and face, then went out again. By then everybody's eyes were burning. We finished locking up and took off.

 

I found out the next day the police science class at the college across the river was having a live fire crowd control exercise using tear gas, and the wind had shifted suddenly. About a third of the town could smell it, but the area around the store was the worst.

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it is my experience that when exposed to CS having some random guy with a lot of stripes on his sleeve yell obscenities at you till you stand at attention really takes the fun out of eye boogers and blowing snot bubbles.

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I also have some experience with Mustard Gas. :(

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I've never been gassed, so have to ask. Is there anything that you can put in the eyes to relieve it, or do you just have to wait for your tears to cry your eyes clean?....

It's been a few years. If my memory serves me correctly. CN was the law enforcement weaker version of military CS. Cold water and time worked for CN.

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I also have some experience with Mustard Gas. :(

Ah, yes. the much beloved Mustard Confidence Test. I carry a small scar to this day.

 

My CS exposure was mitigated by the Enlisted people administrating the test who though it would be cute to line the young officers up facing a pond. I stopped running when I was about 5' deep.

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Oleoresin Capsicum is used mostly to retaliate against other police officers by spraying it in the air ducts of their squad car. When they get in their car, start it up, then turn on the fan, smile and watch what happens. Works all the time many years ago. Been on both ends of that one. :lol:

Went in a room with a crazy woman armed with a very big butcher knife and the Sgt. at the same time tossed in a canister of CS. Jumped on her and disarmed all the same time sucking in CS. Not nice nor fun. The woman let me take her to PRC (psychratic receiving center) when she found out I was the one that disarmed her and had sucked in the CS like she did. I was outside with the hose over my head then turned the hose on her telling her not to scratch it will eventally go away. That was 2 weeks before I retired :D

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Ah, yes. the much beloved Mustard Confidence Test. I carry a small scar to this day.

 

My CS exposure was mitigated by the Enlisted people administrating the test who though it would be cute to line the young officers up facing a pond. I stopped running when I was about 5' deep.

I wonder if they still do the mustard thing? Probably be classified as abuse today. ;)
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I wonder if they still do the mustard thing? Probably be classified as abuse today. ;)

The only ones that got hurt were the ones that didn't follow directions. A 2Lt didn't want the little scar so he wipe it off. wound up with a blister the size of a teacup.

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Sure hurt when my blister broke a couple days later.

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Nothing clears out clogged sinuses like CS. When I went through the hut at Ft McClellan, the 5 minutes or so after kind of sucked, but I felt great the rest of the day. It does seem to affect some worse then others, I know I and some others recovered sooner then some of fellow recruits. And of course there is always the one recruit who didn't pay attention during the class and didn't get a good seal on his mask so he ended up getting a lot more exposure to the CS then the rest of us did.

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BTW tear gas in not a gas but a very very fine powder. I was actualy pretty much immune to it. Pepper spray is a whole new ball game

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