# Treatment for Pepper Spray



## Alexakat (Mar 26, 2007)

Hi everyone...a quick question...

If dispatched to the county jail to treat a 25 year old patient (in custody & handcuffed) who'd been sprayed with pepper spray approximately 1 hour prior to EMS arrival, what would be your course of action?

This patient had no visible signs of irritation to the eyes or skin.

Thanks...


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## Alexakat (Mar 26, 2007)

Sorry...meant to post somewhere other than "ALS Discussion".  Can a moderator move this for me?  Thanks.


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## FF/EMT Sam (Mar 26, 2007)

Well, what were you dispatched for?  What is the patient's chief complaint?  If you were dispatched for him becuase he got pepper sprayed, but he's now in no obvious distress, then I'd get a set of vital signs and have an LEO sign a refusal for him...Press hard...Three copies...Done!


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## Alexakat (Mar 26, 2007)

Dispatched for "injured person", priority 3.

Dispatch said "Subject wants eyes flushed due to being sprayed with pepper spray".

I've heard a few things about this...that there's no "treatment" for this (ie. b/c it's oil-based)...that in time, the effects will wear off or to flush with normal saline, but don't allow the subject to rub his/her eyes (which he couldn't do b/c he was handcuffed) or to tell the subject to just continually blink so the tears could flush the eyes naturally.

Just wondering if anyone else has experience with this...

He was drunk, mad, calling us all every name in the book.  Was arrested for breaking & entering, then resisting arrest.  I had to bite my tongue as I don't have much sympathy in this situation.  Got LEO to sign refusal...


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## chico.medic (Mar 26, 2007)

Having been pepper sprayed in a CA POST (Police Officer Standards and Training) class I took, I'll tell you what *NOT TO DO*.  Don't try to irrigate the eyes.  OC spray is a crystal, suspended in an oil base.  You let it dry and brush the crystals away.  When you add water, it reconstitutes the crystals and make it hurt again.  Give them a fan, or a cool breeze, and let em' know it's going to hurt for awhile and "Yes, it does hurt to run from the cops." 

BTW, That's why pepper spray is such an effective non-lethal tool.  IT HURTS!


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## cw15321 (Mar 26, 2007)

Has anyone tried something like the BioShield® Towelettes from Galls?

http://www.galls.com/style.html?assort=general_catalog&style=SD081

Thanks


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## firemedic1563 (Mar 27, 2007)

Flush with milk.


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## Jon (Mar 27, 2007)

Unfortunatly, Milk, sugar water, and other things aren't usually in the BLS protocols.

Irrigation CAN work... espicially for the eyes... in large quanities.

I've been sprayed for work as well... and it sucks... and you get over it. If the guy is a drunken ***... then I don't have any sympathy...


FWIW, Pepper spray doesn't work on everyone... espicially those that are intoxicated and/or using other illicit substances.


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## DT4EMS (Mar 27, 2007)

OK.........

I have been OC'd several times in order to be certified. The common treatment IS to flush with copious amounts of water and fresh air (like a fan). 

Officers will use baby shampoo on themself to help wash it off as well. (From experience this works as well as the Sudecon). I used to carry the Sudecon wipes in my bag to wipe my hands and arms off becuase usually after OC'ing a suspect I still had to place them into custody.


You can attach a nasal cannula to the IV bag and let it rest on the nose of the patient. It will flush nicely.


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## ffemt8978 (Mar 27, 2007)

Alexakat said:


> Sorry...meant to post somewhere other than "ALS Discussion".  Can a moderator move this for me?  Thanks.



No problem.


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## HorseHauler (Mar 27, 2007)

yup baby shampoo is what we use


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## ffemt8978 (Mar 28, 2007)

Here's my preferred method for pepper spray decon of a patient:


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## Stevo (Mar 28, 2007)

hang a bag of saline, attach a nasal cannula to it, place the nostril part of the cannula over bridge of the patients nose, adjust drip to whatever flush rate is desired....

~S~


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## BossyCow (Mar 30, 2007)

Stevo said:


> hang a bag of saline, attach a nasal cannula to it, place the nostril part of the cannula over bridge of the patients nose, adjust drip to whatever flush rate is desired....
> 
> ~S~



Okay, I'm writing that one down!


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## Alexakat (Mar 30, 2007)

Stevo said:


> hang a bag of saline, attach a nasal cannula to it, place the nostril part of the cannula over bridge of the patients nose, adjust drip to whatever flush rate is desired....
> 
> ~S~




What a great idea!!


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## TKO (Apr 2, 2007)

Remember your BTLS slogans and you're *** will be covered in most situations: "the solution to pollution is dilution".

That being said, we don't pour vinegar over basic chemical burns to neutralize the reaction like they did in Fight Club, we pour copious amounts of clean water.  Afterall, we are here to stabilize, not to cure.


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## Stevo (Apr 4, 2007)

> What a great idea!!



old one shown to me long ago, ems being the McGyver's paradise it is....

~S~


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## Jon (Apr 4, 2007)

Stevo said:


> old one shown to me long ago, ems being the McGyver's paradise it is....
> 
> ~S~


Yeah... that one keeps coming up in "Tricks of the Trade" columns, etc.


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## Fahx (Apr 23, 2007)

Just a fun fact about OC:

Action medics at demonstrations have, for years, performed a treatmeant known as MoFibA - Mineral oil followed immediately by alcohol.

The face is divided into quarters, and mineral oil is applied to it. So, when this mineral oil is wiped off with alcohol, it is neutralized, and the OC is wiped away.


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## firecoins (Apr 23, 2007)

for pepper spray I usually pour salt on it.


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## Epi-do (Apr 23, 2007)

We carry sudecon wipes, although I have never used them before.


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