Protest Safety Info

ABC’s of CHEMICAL WEAPONS

Approach

Get consent from the person. Help them get away from the source of the chemical weapon, if no other medical concerns are apparent. If you suspect any head/neck trauma, do not move the person.

Barrier

Wear fresh gloves, before touching each person.

Be careful of getting chemical weapons on your hands, as it can spread from person to person. Remove and replace gloves between each person you treat.

Contacts

Before washing someone’s eyes, ask if they are wearing contacts. If they can, guide the person to safely remove the contact lenses as soon as possible. Doing an eye wash on someone wearing contact lenses can cause the contact to roll in the back of the eye and make the situation worse.Approach

Get consent from the person. Help them get away from the source of the chemical weapon, if no other medical concerns are apparent. If you suspect any head/neck trauma, do not move the person.

Decontaminate

Wash one eye at a time and make sure to wash the spray out of the eye away from the nose so it doesn’t spread from one eye to the other. Use clean water or saline.

Educate

Tell the person to wash their clothing with dish soap and not mix with other clothing. Take a cold/tepid shower (hot water can make it hurt).

The eye flush is not to “neutralize” the chemical; it is to physically push the irritant out of the eye.

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Protest safety during COVID-19
Chanting, yelling, and speaking loudly releases more droplets, increasing the risk of spreading COVID-19. This makes distancing especially important.
Consider your risk before you go. Who do you live with? If you are arrested, you will have to isolate for ~2 weeks. Will you be able to go home?
Public restrooms are less available. Consider alternative places to go. It is not safe to intentionally dehydrate yourself.
Stay as physically distant from other protesters as possible.
Bring extra hand sanitizer or masks (if you can) to pass out to people.
When eating snacks or drinking water, stand far outside the protest so you can safely unmask.
Think through transportation ahead of time, as public transportation might not be available (or safe)
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Protest safety during COVID19
Bring hand sanitizer and use it after touching anything
Wear a face covering and bring a backup in case yours gets contaminated with chemical weapons
Stay home if you feel sick: do not try to be a hero, you will be only putting people in danger.
There are many ways to suppport if you can’t attend in person.
Cook food for a friend who went and leave it for them at home
Donate to a bail fund, street medic collective, or your local NLG
Watch sources you trust and pass on vetted information to friends so they don’t have to rely on only rumors
Pick up or drop off your friends
Sew masks and send them with a friend to distribute at the event
Check in with your friends who went afterrward. talk on the phone.
What are your specific skills? How can you support your community with them?
Be an emergency contact for your friends
Coordinate or provide childcare
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Chemical weapons aftercare
Avoid entering the house with contaminated clothing. If possible, remove contaminated clothes and put in a plastic bag. Avoid touching other people, pets, furniture, etc.
Take a cool or tepid shower. Use soap.
Wash clothes through a machine twice with strong detergent
Your liver is helping break down the chemical irritants You can support your liver by not drinking alcohol for a few days after the event. Herbs like dandelion and milk thistle will support the liver, too.
Take care of yourself emotionally. What helps you deal with pain, grief, and anger? Talking to some trusted friends (who were with you or not) can be a helpful way to process.
If you can, avoid watching footage of the event (at least for a few days). It can be retraumatizing.

How to decontaminate eyes from chemical weapons:
Stay calm! Easier said than done, try to remain calm. If you can, move away from the source of the chemical weapons.
Have people approach you. Say “if you can hear the sound of my voice, please walk toward me”
Considerations with asthma
If people near the chemical weapons have asthma, they might need their inhaler. You can help them find it and/or use it, but do not use or give an inhaler not prescribed to the person using it.
Plain water is the most effective, safe and accessible liquid to flush eyes. Milk is not sterile and baking soda can cause chemical burns.

You’ll need:
1. A water bottle with a squirt top
2. Gloves
3. Consent to treat and touch the person affected
There are many things people use to flush eyes, but plain water is the safest, easiest, and cheapest. Liquid antacid (without alcohol) & water at a 1:1 ratio is often used to flush eyes. It will neutralize quickly and needs to be mixed day-of.
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How to decontaminate eyes from chemical weapons
1. Always ask consent before treating and touching someone
2. Wear gloves to keep you and others safe, and to avoid spreading the irritant.
3. Contact lenses need to be removed before flushing eyes. This is best done by the person wearing them, but help them wash their hands with soap and water first.
4. It is easier if the person is kneeling on the ground or has their hands on their knees.
5. Ask them to tilt their head to one side. Use your thumb to pull their eyelid so their eye is open. (This part is hard– the eye reflexively wants to close!)
6. Use a squirt bottle to flush from the inside corner of the eye (nose side) to the outside comer (toward the ground).
7. Have them tilt their head to the other side and flush the other eye.
8. Chemical irritants can often get in the mouth. Having them swish around some water or antacid wash can be helpful.
The eye flush is not to “neutralize” the chemical; it is to physically push the irritant out of the eye.
Brought to you by your friendly neighborhood street medic.

Know Your Rights
If you are being arrested or detained, remain calm, still and silent. Name out loud that you are not resisting. “I am not resisting arrest.” As for a lawyer immediately. Don’t say anything, sign anything, or make any decisions without a lawyer. If you go to jail: if you have been arrested by the police, you have the right to make a local phone call. Jail phones are recorded. If you call your attorney, it will not be recorded, but they will listen to it. Searches: Police may pay down your clothing if they suspect a weapon. Say “I do not consent to any searches.” *Refusing consent may not stop the officer from carrying out the search against your will, but making a timely objection before or during the search can help preserve your rights in any later legal proceeding.
Lock your phone with a password, not a face ID. Police can unlock it with your face ID.
Do not reach into your pockets unless explicitly asked to do so by the officer.
Always keep your hands where the officer can see them.
Recording: if someone (or you!) is being arrested, you have the right to observe and record events that are plainly visible in public spaces, as long as you do not interfere with what the officers are doing and do not stand close enough to obstruct their movements.

Know your rights!
We have many legal protections. The police will knowingly violate them. We must advocate for our rights out loud & consistently.
Do you have to talk to the police? Ask “officer, am I being detained?” If not, you are free to go!
You have the right to remain silent, but you need to actively invoke that right. Say “I’m going to remain silent”
You do not have to answer any questions about where you are going, where you are traveling from what you are doing, where you live, where you were born, whether you are a U.S. citizen, or how you entered the country,.
In some states you may be required to provide your name if asked to identify yourself, and an officer may arrest you for refusing to do so.
Don’t let the police make you feel bad for exercising you 5th amendment rights.
Remember: the #1 weapon of the police is fear. They will try to use it as a tactic.

How to stay safe and healthy in the streets:
Bring layers & mask
Wear closed toed shes
Bring snacks and water
The most important thing you can have with you is a friend you trust by your side
Spread calm. The #1 weapon of the police is fear. Beware of people spreading unfounded rumors. If people start to run, calmly and assertively say “please walk”.
Know where your local street medics are. Please don’t advertise yourself as a medic unless you’ve been trained.
Don’t wear contact lenses. Bring any medications you might need.
Have your emergency contact’s phone number written on your arm in case you need it. If using a National Lawyer’s Guild (NLG) #, make sure it’s ‘active’ for this event.
Be at your body’s baseline. Get enough sleep and don’t come hungover.
Drink water! Sometimes people intentionally dehydrate themselves so they don’t need to pee. Don’t do this! Hydrate in small sips. See you in the streets!