Some of you might say "well why don't you wear long sleeves and pants and gloves, and you won't get it". Ha! I laugh at the absurdity of it. My friends, it is not the plant itself that gives you a rash. It's the oils that it secretes. Oils. Can oil go through your clothing to come into contact with your skin? Yes it can. Can oil mix with sweat and follow it's path down some very inconvenient places as it drips and attempts to run off your body? Why yes, yes it can.
"Well then", you might ask, "why don't you avoid it, don't you know what it looks like?" Yes, of course I do. My third eye can sense it from a mile away. I can spot it in a brush full of fakes and imposters. But folks, it's one of the drawbacks of my job. Just like superman has kryptonite, we wildland firefighters have poison oak. We work in it, we live in it, we sleep in it. Good stuff. For those who don't know what it looks like, here it is.
Of course there's also poison ivy and sumac, but if you live in those areas, you can do a search. Wonderfully enough, we also have a flower in these parts that was just discovered to have the same "urushol" oils that these other plants have. Very pretty flower, dire consequences for touching it. What's even more amazing is what poison oak looks like during the winter. 
It's a bunch of upright sticks. Looking at an entire hillside of it makes it very obvious. But just one or two poking out of another kind of brush is hard to spot. So avoiding it is out of the question... at least in this job.Since it can't be avoided, lets go ahead and look at what can happen when you do come into contact with it.
Pretty, huh? Does it itch? Why yes it itches. It's incredibly overwhelming, I can't even describe it.So once you get the rash, what do you do about it? Take benedryl? Calamine lotion? Apparently not. Sure, you can try. I've found the only thing that helps is a hefty dose of prednisone, which warns against such side effects as decreased immune function, loss of bone density, loss of hair, and other awesome things. But sometimes it's worth the risk. Some people swear by putting nail polish remover or gasoline on the offending parts. I've found that after scratching my skin all to hell, applying Nair and waiting for it to burn through the rash has often transformed the rash into a chemical burn, which, believe it or not, is moderate relief. Large amounts of benedryl is great at night when you're kept awake scratching. The calamine lotion will only transfer to under your fingernails when several minutes later, you're scratching again.
As long as you've properly washed off all the urushiol oils, scratching wont spread it. So please don't pester the poor soul who's inflicted with it. Matter of fact, lets look at some proper poison oak/ivy etiquette for those of you who've never had it. From the website: http://www.knoledge.org/oak/
ETIQUETTE
Because Poison Oak is one of the worst afflictions mankind must suffer, there must be rules of etiquette for dealing with it.
IF YOU HAVE NEVER HAD POISON OAK:
You may not joke about it.
You cannot say, "Don't you know what it looks like?"
You may not offer your advice on how to treat it.
You must show nothing but sympathy, and if it is feigned it must seem genuine.
Absolutely no smirking!
You are not allowed to insinuate that the person who has Poison Oak deserved it, or is afflicted due to incompetence on their part.
IF YOU ARE IMMUNE:
All the above rules apply to you.
You may never boast of your immunity, and especially never touch poison oak to demonstrate your immunity. I heard of a man who ate a poison oak leaf to show off. This is a justifiable motive for homicide.
If you cannot follow the above guidelines, please kill yourself now.
IF YOU HAVE HAD POISON OAK:
You must show sympathy, and tell anecdotes about how bad you had it.
You may joke and laugh, as long as you make it known that you feel very deep sorrow at the affliction.
Feel free to imply that all immune people should be exterminated off the face of the earth
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