Human Disorder

Thanks to popular television shows like Dog the Bounty Hunter more people are aware of the use of pepper spray in law enforcement as a means of suppressing suspects instead of using more dangerous weapons.

Pepper spray is made from an oily extract found in pepper plants that are grown in countries like Mexico and then exported to the United States. The most potent element of pepper spray is capsaicinoid which creates the hotness that many people feel when they are sprayed with pepper spray.

Pepper Spray Health Effects

Short term exposure to pepper spray can cause intense burning, redness, swelling and pain around the area of the body that was sprayed.

Use of pepper spray can stimulate the heat receptors in a body which will also cause an individual to sweat profusely. Pepper spray can also cause a chemical reaction in an individual’s body that will cause them to cool too quickly and fall into hypothermia if cold water is used to decontaminate that person after pepper spray is used.

When Pepper Spray is Potentially Lethal

Using pepper spray can prove to be potentially lethal if it’s sprayed on an individual who already has a previous breathing condition like asthma. Many reports have shown that pepper spray can cause asthmatics to break out into respiratory arrest and CPR must be administered immediately.

In cases where use of pepper spray has resulted in fatalities it was learned that the fatality wasn’t a side effect of the pepper spray but a result of drugs that were taken before the individual was sprayed or hog tying that was used to suppress the suspect.

How to Decontaminate Yourself from Pepper Spray

If you find yourself contaminated by pepper spray the best thing to do is wash your skin with soap and water then was your clothes in a separate load from your normal laundry.

do you think excessive force was used on you, call a Indianapolis personal injury attorney today.