My skin burned where it touched, of course, and my lips and nostrils felt like they were blistering. It really burns, I mean, like no other burning you've experienced. But the hardest thing for me was I had to make a conscious effort to breathe. I would suddenly realize I hadn't taken a breath for 30 seconds or so, and then have to struggle to force my body to inhale. Weird and uncomfortable feeling. Also, my nose was running, but not constantly like many had told me it would. Instead, it was thick and coagulated, making breathing through my nose impossible. Lovely, I know.
Also, my eyes were clenched shut. As part of the training they make you force one eye open to show that you could operate if you absolutely had to do so (in case you are struck with blowback or another officer's spray, etc.) I did that, but then was pretty much blind for 25-30 minutes. We each had a partner to take us to the decontamination stations. Thanks Jenni!
The first station is a hose. I was there for about 10 minutes I would guess. You can't rub it, because that will activate it further and push it into your pores. So, you have to splash up and pat your face with soap. I found the soap most soothing. From there we went inside to a bathroom sink. I stood there about another 15 or 20 minutes, I would guess, and then it slowly, slowly starts to fade once you stop splashing it. After another 1/2 hour, I felt relatively normal.
I went home and immediately took a cold shower, which again reactivated the spray. But I had to get it off for the boy's sake. My eyes were clenched about 5 minutes, and then I flushed them out real well. When I got out of the shower my forearms started burning...turns out some got on my arms, but my face was in such pain I didn't even notice until my shower approximately 2 hours later.
I then washed in a solution 25% dish soap 75% water, and that really seemed to clear it out. The spray has a UV dye in it so you can track down suspects that escape and demonstrate they were among those sprayed. I used my blacklight to take the following picture...it shows fairly well where I was hit:
But, I know most of you come here for news and pictures of little Jimmy. So, here he is after a bath:
Close up:
And sleeping on Mom's tummy. So cute:
6 comments:
Yikes is all I can say! Does not sound like a pleasant experience. Hopefully it's a one-time event.
Amanda
Wow! I guess you didn't come home and say you had a boring day at work. I didn't realize pepper spray was so brutal. I'm glad you were able to experience it first-hand to let us know!
I can't believe how big James has gotten!
Oh my gosh. I have been waiting for this post for two weeks. It was a topic of conversation at the ward campout, by the way!
Sounds like a wonderful experience! I love the UV picture...your blog is so full of information and things that I can take to work and look like I'm smart. Good work Gman!
Gary that is crazy. And baby James is soooo cute. How fun! I love after bath pictures!
themunkfamily.wordpress.com
Amanda: Should be, even if you have to recertify, they don't make you take the hit again.
Heather: It's funny you say he looks big. I guess he is bigger, but it's hard to tell when you see him every day.
Kiersten: I feel so popular now. But surely my legend will never grow as great as that titan, Jeff Nemelka...
Bryce: We had a real good time last weekend. We need to hang out again soon. It's criminal that we both live in Utah Valley and hardly hang out.
Jessica: Sorry we missed the bday party. We were concerned about Jimmy getting sick what with the sick attender. And then he got a cold anyway. Go figure. We also need to do something soon. (seems like we've been planning it since last Thanksgiving and it never seems to pan out. gah!)
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