Got anybody in the household with severe respiratory problems? Outside of that the problem once it’s at low concentrations is mostly unpleasantness.
I was not a chemical officer but I’ve been exposed to CS on multiple occasions (including higher concentrations than even most of the people at potential riots will get.) I’ve also seen dozens of people get sprayed with OC and picked up some very minor downwind (in the 50ish ft range) exposure when the streams splashed off their faces and got carried in the wind.
There’s two major riot control agents in use - OC (aka pepper spray) and CS. OC tends to dominate in the directed stream for use against individuals in policing and personal defense. CS tends to dominate in the sprayers, “grenades”, etc used against large riots. There are foggers to disperse OC for areas instead of individual targets so you could see both if things get ugly. They’re different and probably not worth trying to describe the difference to identify if you haven’t experienced either.
If you have central air and it’s not on (I like fans and open windows until it gets brutal) close up the house and turn it on if you’re in nearby downwind sites. Concentrations should already be pretty diffused by the time it travels much downwind. Go inside if you are out and eyes, nose, etc sting a bit.
If you’ve got someplace like a garage where you can try to decon a bit, getting CS off of you there is a good idea if you’ve been exposed outside. CS is a powder that breaks down to the painful chemical on exposure to water like in your eyes, nose lungs, etc. You can shake the powder off your clothes. Shake them off and take off what you can outside (spray them down later with an outdoor hose if available.) Wash them before wear at a later date. No “I only wore these shorts for a little bit” ; CS powder could be hanging out there waiting to break down against your skin the next time you sweat.
Don’t rub you eyes, face etc. Seriously, rubbing it in does not help.
Blink your eyes a lot to help clear them once you’re out of the worst of it. Your natural urge is to clamp them shut. Don’t try to move around a lot to get inside with them closed. Especially don’t try running with them closed. It sounds stupid. It is stupid. In the heat of the moment some people do dumb shit.
If you’ve got a room air filter and some CS gets in might help pull the powder out of the air (with no idea on size of the particle versus what typical room air filters pull out.)
Cool water on the face was the decontamination method for OC. Let it rinse the agent off. CS that hasn’t shaken off will break down and rinse off that way too…although it might sting as it breaks down on your face. Do not, I say again, DO NOT, just hop in the shower. You want the contaminated water to NOT run down your body. Sensitive parts of the body plus RCAs is not a good mix. :eek: Remember it’s cool water. You want your pores closed not opening up in response to warm water.
If you get a good dosing in your area and have a lawn I’d make sure it had either rained or water before mowing again. If it was CS there’s a powder just sitting there waiting to break down with water.
Don’t freak out. It hurts. It can hurt really, really bad in high concentrations. Downwind it won’t hurt that bad. It’s not really killing you. It’s not preventing you from breathing and getting oxygen. It just hurts. The pain ends. Freaking out can lead to bad decisions that hurt and injure you. keep your head, embrace the suck and it gets over.