During the 2014 Ferguson protests, I was teargassed while helping an elder who needed medical help, so for STL's 2017 Stockley verdict protests, I got trained as a street medic.

For protests in this pandemic, the eye/mouth (w/ modifications) seem super important to remember:

Eye safety:
- Wear glasses, not contacts. (If you get pepper sprayed or tear gassed, contacts will keep the toxins in your eyes and elongate the pain.)
- You might look goofy, but goggles are even better for protecting your eyes.

- If pepper-sprayed/tear-gassed wash your eyes and face with a Maalox-water solution.
- Bring your saline solution as a backup for smoke, heat, general irritation.
- Don't let people blow in eyes or touch them, esp without washing their hands (which they may not be able to do).

Nose/Mouth safety:
- In addition to your COVID-19 face masks, bring a wet bandana in a zip-loc bag. Water works, but soaking the bandana in vinegar (though stinky) could help protect you if pepper spray/tear-gassing happens. Wrap it around your face, on top of your face mask.

If you have asthma, bring your pump. I remember helping @CoriBush after she was pepper-sprayed downtown, and it was advantageous that she had a pump in her car that I could run and retrieve.

If you have any other special medical devices (ie, epipen), take them with you.

Pack supplies in a small backpack that includes your snacks, water bottle, spare key, dry face towel, general first aid, sharpies (esp for writing legal support number if you get arrested), etc.

I'm a designer and not a medical practitioner, so I'm curious what others would add.

As well, the street medic guide that we used was largely based on the Paper Revolution @PaperRev one: https://www.paperrevolution.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Street-Medic-Guide-Paper-Revolution-v6.pdf