ive never puked because of anthing related to the call itself.
i have however puked while on a call. of course, i had a stomach bug and had no business at work that day to begin with but the bills have to be paid right.
its a little tough to explain to the patient when its all on you. its absolutely mortifying(i would imagine) if you puked because the pt puked or messed their shorts or something. that does take some getting used to. ive been nauseaus in that situation.
but if you cant handle blood or gore(after the first few occurances), this may not be the job for you(not you specifically, but a general you)
Only once, on a really bad GI bleed. I volunteered to go outside and get the cot, so I was able to get out of the house and away from the patient before it happened though.
I've also gagged a bit. I was doing my second clinical and was pulled into a room to help pump someone's stomach. The combo of the patient gagging on the tube in her stomach and seeing the fluid come back up made me gag for the first minute or so.
Never gagged... never close to puking... now that I've used the never word its coming Im sure.
I got kinda faint once on my EMT clinicals - doc was excising an ingrown toenail and I got whoozy - Can't understand why cause I've seen lots worse.. but there it was.
PS.. HotelCo - I am on day 2 of a 72 hour shift and your avatar really got me.. I was getting freaked at what was in my quarters...
I never puked due to the sights and sounds or around a patient but one evening after taco bell we ran a cardiac arrest, I was doing compressions the entire way back to the hospital and the guy driving is known for his nascar like abilities. That was my first time actually riding in the ambulance (I was a FR) and I made the mistake of looking out the window while bouncing and shaking down the road at an insane speed. Made it to the ER but hopped out of the rig and tossed my cookies in the drain of the garage.
Never puked. Dry-heaved my *** off, though. I hate puke. It's not the sight of the smell of anything, it's the sound! I've only ever dry-heaved twice... once my first day in the back of an ambulance and once on a REALLY bad GI bleed.
Nope, I have never puked on a call. When I am at work, even the gross of the gross :glare: doesn't seem to bother me much. I am sure there is going to be something in the future that gets to me, but so far so good.
Felt queasy, yes. (Especially after a really bumpy code 3 drive to the hospital while assisting a medic in the back) but never barfed. I would be really embarrassed if I did!
Ive become nauseated from the smell of 3 day old elderly diarrhea but haven't puked yet. Im the head EMT for our Corps here at VT and on the second day of Freshmen training like 10 of then decided they would throw up at breakfast. I watched a kid bring up his entire breakfast with barely digested pineapple in it and then returned to my breakfast and ate my pineapple. Didnt phase me at all. Only time puke has gotten to me was helping a kid down the stairs and being right next to him while he violently dry heaved and i basically had my head in trashcan he was using. Phew bad smell. But im sure Ill have something whether it be on a call or a smell/sight when I get deployed.
I haven't, but my partner almost did last night.. so he took some toilet paper (from the p/ts bathroom) and stuck it up his nose. Turns out he doesn't do well with smells, but he's a dang good medic!
Smells are the only thing that upsets my stomach, haven't puked (knock on wood), but a little Vick's under the nose, gritting the teeth and breathing through the mouth usually makes that ok.
I am supposed to go on my first ride along next week. I am way excited but must admit a little nervouse about puking. I do ok with most things , I do have a problem with vomit even my own kids vomit (yuck) so this will be a challenge for me. I do love a good challenge but was wondering how y'all deal with the smell and cleaning it up when someone throws up in the back of the rig?
I am supposed to go on my first ride along next week. I am way excited but must admit a little nervouse about puking. I do ok with most things , I do have a problem with vomit even my own kids vomit (yuck) so this will be a challenge for me. I do love a good challenge but was wondering how y'all deal with the smell and cleaning it up when someone throws up in the back of the rig?
I had a partner one day hook himself up to the NRB and O2 while cleaning up after a very very smelly patient in the back. Works wonders!
Speaking of smelly patients, we did a GT run last night on a veggie who had been in the hospital for three and a half weeks, and smelled like he hadnt been washed once since. He was so filthy we put the BP cuff on him, and when we took it off it had some yellowish discoloration to it. We made the nurse wash him before we would take him because gosh darn, we were both about to lose our cookies!
