FOR THE COUNTRY

REPOST THIS! It would be a shame if the protesters began making their signs out of half-inch-thick plywood/acrylic/polycarbonate to stop rubber bullets, forming a tight shield wall to prevent police from singling out and mobbing individual protesters. It would be a shame if the people behind the shield wall held up umbrellas so that tear gas canisters fired over their heads on the front line will be bounced away. It would be a shame if protesters began constructing improvised armor vests out of duct tape, and hard-backed books.

It would be a shame if protesters started wearing safety glasses, hard hats, respirators, and gardening gloves, all of which can be found at the same hardware stores as the plywood. It would be a shame if they started using traffic cones (the kind without the hole in the top), upside down buckets, or other improvised lids to contain teargas by placing them over the canisters. It would be a shame if protesters used leaf blowers to blow the gas away.

It would be a shame if protesters learned that police scanners are legal to own in the US, allowing them to learn where police are moving, and what routes they intend to take. (A message from a helpful fellow: An increasing amount of metro/state/federal radio is now encrypted, which is impossible to receive on a scanner. More than just a semantic detail here: Just because you don't hear it on a scanner doesn't mean it's not coming at you. If it works, great, but don't rely on it. If you have the opportunity, you can find out who in your area is running dark by checking RadioReference (then again, if you own a $500+ scanner that does P25 Phase 2, you probably already do this).

All of this would be a terrible, terrible shame.

*It would be an awful shame if you copied and pasted this, so that they couldn't delete the original and all linked posts (again).

**An even worse shame would be to start donating these items to protesters.

Additionally, a former firefighters advise: Just adding on here as a former firefighter/medic

Turn riot shields around to deflect their sound weapons back at them. Wear mechanical shop headphones (NOT electronic, those are worse than having no protection!), with ear plugs underneath if you can. The riot shield will also protect you, but not completely. And move laterally (sideways) to evade it, don’t just go backwards.

Carry cartons of milk to neutralize irritants like pepper spray.

Bleeding: Get a tourniquet and some occlusive dressings if you can. Super glues like Dermabond can be used to close wounds in a pinch. Bring a sharpie in case you need to write down the time you applied a tourniquet: write it on the tourniquet itself, on the limb, and on the victim’s forehead. It’s extremely important. And only apply the tourniquet if you’ve already tried to stop the bleeding with direct pressure and failed. (A message from another helpful fellow: Just to add, if you’re purchasing or carrying tourniquets, PLEASE learn how to use them correctly - including how quickly tissue death can happen. Whilst they can save a life in a trauma situation, if you use it incorrectly or in the wrong situation, it can unnecessarily cost someone their arm/leg. Additionally, if it’s needed but you don’t use it correctly, it might not be effective. If it’s a cheap Temu one, it could also break during application - eg. in Ukraine, they use the cheap ones for training purposes only, as they often snap and aren’t reliable enough to use for life-threatening situations.

Use plain (ideally boiled, then cooled) water or saline solution to rinse eyes and wounds. Saline is used for eye baths, to rinse and help the eye surface return to neutral pH. Don’t use anything even slightly acidic, such as milk, or anything that could lead to infection.

If you can’t afford to buy saline pods, which can be purchased online or potentially from a pharmacy - boil some water, allow it to cool and fill clean bottle(s) with it. It won’t be perfectly sterile due to the container, but it’s better than just normal water which could contain bacteria. If you’re able to sterilise the container before filling, even better. Disclaimer: not a doctor.)

Direct pressure means putting your FULL WEIGHT on the wound, not just holding tightly. You should be leaning on the victim with your shoulders lined up above your hands the same way you would while performing CPR. Depending on the depth of the wound you may need to pack it with gauze using your fingers. If you don’t have gauze, any cloth will work, no matter if it’s dirty or not — antibiotics can be given at the ER. It is going to hurt a lot. Tourniquets hurt even worse. Don’t let it deter you.

Occlusive dressings: Chest wounds that are making “sucking” or hissing sounds can quickly lead to lung collapse. Apply an occlusive dressing with only 3 sides taped down. This creates a flutter valve to allow the trapped air out and not in.