friendlyneighborhoodstreetmedic:

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.

brought to you by your friendly neighborhood street medic