It was part of security training I went through. Because we use it, we need to respect it. In order to respect it, one must understand it. What better way to understand it… :smack:
It was interesting to say the least. At first, it felt like horse-radish or wasabi up the nose. After running through a course which consisted of hitting people with pads, it really kicked it. Oh man, the pain.
OC stands for Oleoresin Capsicum wich is basically consentrated pepper. We were exposed to the 10% concentration mixture. More advanced levels of the course will require me to experience a 40% concentration and even a foam variant of the spray.
I’ve eaten raw wasabi, and that was enough to clear my sinuses like a miniature nuclear blast. I saw someone on Howard Stern snort raw (powdered) wasabi. He freaked right the hell out.
I don’t want to know what it’s like to get sprayed in the face with that stuff – even a diluted form of it. That’s just gotta be nasty. I hope you’re getting paid well.
The company that provides contract guards for our base requires that you take a shot of OC in the face as a condition of employment (so you can experience it for yourself). They don’t pay anything near what you might imagine they do. I also hope you’re making some good money, but I doubt it.
At my place of employment (a locked inpatient unit) we’ve had to call the police to help with out of control clients. One time they had to pepper spray the guy. Unfortunately, the cop who did so didn’t bother warning anyone so everyone (The client, three staff and the other cop) all got hit by it (this was in a small room). Not a fun experience, but it pretty much stopped the strugglein its tracks.
I mean, I can understand the need for the wielder of the spray to understand and respect what kind of pain and discomfort the stuff inflicts on the sprayee, but going beyond simply saying, “Seriously, this stuff stings like the biggest mofo ever so use with extreme discretion” by making you experience it for your very own self seems a bit much. Are cops/armed guards required to be tazed while in training?
Yes, some of them are. My husband, before I met him, worked in private security and as part of his training he was required to be pepper-sprayed, hit with a stun gun and a taser. The taser stopped his heart but fortunately the paramedics were able to recesitate him right away… His supervisors suggested that he not get hit with a taser in the line of duty. :dubious:
