Time is moving fast now. We have passed the half way point, ten weeks to go! Now half way, that’s got to be celebrated, and how better to that, than with a little OC spray (pepper spray)!
Friday was an excellent day. We started out with PT, an hour and a half of PT! It was a great work out. Sprinting up and down hills, pushups, lunges they threw it all at us. We really get to see a lot of Golden on our runs and Deputies Johnson and Hoffmann really try and mix it up for us so boredom doesn't set in. They seem pleased with our performance and attitude during PT.
We then had a two hour lecture on alternatives to deadly force. Here we talked about tools like OC spray, taser and other less lethal weapons that we have available to us as Law Enforcement. Quite appropriate really as after lunch we were going to feel the effects of OC personally.
Now I do have to disclaim that being sprayed with OC was not compulsory. And if you believe that, neither is getting shot with the Taser! We assembled in the HQ car wash and given our objectives.
Basically this is what we had to do; get sprayed, move to "Bob" a martial arts dummy and strike him for thirty seconds while giving him verbal direction. During this time I could feel my eyes starting to burn and adrenaline kick up.
Stage two; move around the corner of the car wash and arrest a suspect at gun point. Of course we used training weapons and the suspect was one of my class mates. By this stage my eyes were really burning and I could feel my lungs fighting for oxygen, the adrenaline was still strong so I wasn't feeling the full of effects of the OC just yet!
Stage three; Deputy Hoffmann handed me a simunitions weapon and the stage was set for a shoot/don’t shoot scenario. Another one of my class mates played the suspect and I had to decide whether I needed to shoot him or not. As I peered through my burning eyes I saw the suspect standing about eight feet in front of me with a pistol in his hand pointed at the ground. I shot him, much to the dismay of Deputy Johnson, I was supposed to give him a verbal command first and then shoot if necessary. I think I just got a little too excited!
The whole drill lasted only a few minutes, as the adrenaline faded away the pain really set in. I have never felt anything like this; my face was burning like a hot iron was pressed up against. Splashing cold water on my face afforded me some relief but this was short lived.
I could feel myself starting to hyper ventilate as my breathing became shallower and shallower. My partner Davis kept reminding me to take deep breaths which helped calm me down and stop me from going into a panic state. My eyes felt like they were stapled shut, and to pry them open just reminded me of how much they burned.
It took about thirty minutes for the effects to subside somewhat so that I could operate on a functional level, my face and left arm however were still burning right up until about 2300hours that night!
I never imagined I could burn that bad without actually being on fire, but I did learn two very important things from this exercise; one, OC is a great weapon and an excellent tool when used appropriately; and two, that no matter what happens to me or what pain I feel, I can still do what I need to and fight on.
Friday was an excellent day. We started out with PT, an hour and a half of PT! It was a great work out. Sprinting up and down hills, pushups, lunges they threw it all at us. We really get to see a lot of Golden on our runs and Deputies Johnson and Hoffmann really try and mix it up for us so boredom doesn't set in. They seem pleased with our performance and attitude during PT.
We then had a two hour lecture on alternatives to deadly force. Here we talked about tools like OC spray, taser and other less lethal weapons that we have available to us as Law Enforcement. Quite appropriate really as after lunch we were going to feel the effects of OC personally.
Now I do have to disclaim that being sprayed with OC was not compulsory. And if you believe that, neither is getting shot with the Taser! We assembled in the HQ car wash and given our objectives.
Basically this is what we had to do; get sprayed, move to "Bob" a martial arts dummy and strike him for thirty seconds while giving him verbal direction. During this time I could feel my eyes starting to burn and adrenaline kick up.
Stage two; move around the corner of the car wash and arrest a suspect at gun point. Of course we used training weapons and the suspect was one of my class mates. By this stage my eyes were really burning and I could feel my lungs fighting for oxygen, the adrenaline was still strong so I wasn't feeling the full of effects of the OC just yet!
Stage three; Deputy Hoffmann handed me a simunitions weapon and the stage was set for a shoot/don’t shoot scenario. Another one of my class mates played the suspect and I had to decide whether I needed to shoot him or not. As I peered through my burning eyes I saw the suspect standing about eight feet in front of me with a pistol in his hand pointed at the ground. I shot him, much to the dismay of Deputy Johnson, I was supposed to give him a verbal command first and then shoot if necessary. I think I just got a little too excited!
The whole drill lasted only a few minutes, as the adrenaline faded away the pain really set in. I have never felt anything like this; my face was burning like a hot iron was pressed up against. Splashing cold water on my face afforded me some relief but this was short lived.
I could feel myself starting to hyper ventilate as my breathing became shallower and shallower. My partner Davis kept reminding me to take deep breaths which helped calm me down and stop me from going into a panic state. My eyes felt like they were stapled shut, and to pry them open just reminded me of how much they burned.
It took about thirty minutes for the effects to subside somewhat so that I could operate on a functional level, my face and left arm however were still burning right up until about 2300hours that night!
I never imagined I could burn that bad without actually being on fire, but I did learn two very important things from this exercise; one, OC is a great weapon and an excellent tool when used appropriately; and two, that no matter what happens to me or what pain I feel, I can still do what I need to and fight on.
