CobraIV
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Everytime I go in the back I feel nause.Is it my partners driving or me??
nausea in the crash seat
- Thread starter CobraIV
- Start date
lol... both... when we go mutual aid to our neighboring service, and take the backroads (windey and hilly) to the hospital in their district I sometimes get queezey if it is a mundane call with nothing to do but chart.
But, I will be 30-60 minutes in the ambulance.
I get nauseous in my cruiser when someone else drives, especially if I'm on the computer. I can totally see some one get nauseous in the back of a truck.
I wore those pressure bands that are anti-motion sickness a couple times and whether they are rely on the placebo affect or they actually work I don't know but I felt better wearing them. Plus they're cheap.
I wore those pressure bands that are anti-motion sickness a couple times and whether they are rely on the placebo affect or they actually work I don't know but I felt better wearing them. Plus they're cheap.
CritterNurse
Forum Captain
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Could be both or either. It takes a LOT to make me car-sick, but I know other EMS providers who can't handle sitting sideways in a moving vehicle, and another who will only be in the back when there is a patient there due to motion sickness when facing any way but forward.
NomadicMedic
I know a guy who knows a guy.
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Get a scrip for zofran. 
I got one from my doc for 4mg ODTs. They work like a charm when I'm being whipped around in the back of the ambo.
I got one from my doc for 4mg ODTs. They work like a charm when I'm being whipped around in the back of the ambo.
OP
OP
CobraIV
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Ambo LOL
wildrivermedic
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Oh I feel for you, OP.
Our transports are an hour and a half minimum on a very winding river road. I routinely get carsick. Some rigs are better, some drivers are better, some calls are better (the ones where I'm too busy to get sick). But sitting sideways in the back, checking the monitor, writing... bleeeaargh.
Luckily I'm a silent puker and can move to the captains chair to throw up without my patient noticing and setting off a chain reaction. We stock many many "convenience bags" on every rig. I'm not the only crew member with this problem! One has a prescription for Zofran that she will take when the tones drop. It doesn't often work for motion sickness and didn't work for me.
I've been advised to try those bands, and will. There's been times... actually every call when the cold sweat hits just before I loose it... when I question this whole line of work. It really was a big consideration when I applied for Paramedic school. I've decided since I can remain functional thru it all, I'll keep doing what I love.
Our transports are an hour and a half minimum on a very winding river road. I routinely get carsick. Some rigs are better, some drivers are better, some calls are better (the ones where I'm too busy to get sick). But sitting sideways in the back, checking the monitor, writing... bleeeaargh.
Luckily I'm a silent puker and can move to the captains chair to throw up without my patient noticing and setting off a chain reaction. We stock many many "convenience bags" on every rig. I'm not the only crew member with this problem! One has a prescription for Zofran that she will take when the tones drop. It doesn't often work for motion sickness and didn't work for me.
I've been advised to try those bands, and will. There's been times... actually every call when the cold sweat hits just before I loose it... when I question this whole line of work. It really was a big consideration when I applied for Paramedic school. I've decided since I can remain functional thru it all, I'll keep doing what I love.
My flight instructor told me that it's also mental. She had a student who always got sick when her husband was flying, she went up with with this instructor a few times and she got over it.
Non-drowsy Dramamine works for me as well, I totally don't get motion sick or sleepy while on it.
Non-drowsy Dramamine works for me as well, I totally don't get motion sick or sleepy while on it.
AtlasFlyer
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Many people acclimate to the motion and the nausea eventually disappears. (Not always, but very often.)
I've been told the Seabands (motion sickness wristbands) work very well, never used them myself but they are highly recommended.
Generally when motion sickness hits, I advise people to look out the window and look into the distance or at the horizon. That's not practical advice for those working in the back of an ambulance though.
Loosen tight clothes (collar, waistband) and try to keep the temp cool (again, not always possible but it does help).
I've been told the Seabands (motion sickness wristbands) work very well, never used them myself but they are highly recommended.
Generally when motion sickness hits, I advise people to look out the window and look into the distance or at the horizon. That's not practical advice for those working in the back of an ambulance though.
Loosen tight clothes (collar, waistband) and try to keep the temp cool (again, not always possible but it does help).
All good advice. And yes I find the seabands worked for me. They get uncomfortable after wearing them for a long time (all day) because they are using a pressure point so they are pretty tight. For how cheap they are, they're worth picking up.
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Get a scrip for zofran.
Oof, those make me so wicked constipated, I pop blood vessels in my eyeballs.
TheLocalMedic
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I find the best way to keep from getting sick in the back of the ambulance is a five part solution:
Step 1. Eat a really big, greasy meal. Preferably one with lots of processed meats and cheeses. Wash it all down with as much milk as you can swallow.
Step 2. Once you're inside, turn the heat on as high as it will go. Remember to stay bundled up, because you need to be uncomfortably warm for this solution to work.
Step 3. Try not to look out the windows, instead kind of hang your head down a little and gently roll your head in a circle. Just keep rolling it around, this will keep the fluid in your inner ear churning, which is a critical step in avoiding motion sickness.
Step 4. ???
Step 5. Profit.
Hope this helps!
Step 1. Eat a really big, greasy meal. Preferably one with lots of processed meats and cheeses. Wash it all down with as much milk as you can swallow.
Step 2. Once you're inside, turn the heat on as high as it will go. Remember to stay bundled up, because you need to be uncomfortably warm for this solution to work.
Step 3. Try not to look out the windows, instead kind of hang your head down a little and gently roll your head in a circle. Just keep rolling it around, this will keep the fluid in your inner ear churning, which is a critical step in avoiding motion sickness.
Step 4. ???
Step 5. Profit.
Hope this helps!
NomadicMedic
I know a guy who knows a guy.
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It's not newness. I get it on rough, twisty roads when I ride in the airway seat. Usually it's on the way back from a call. I find turning on the AC and not trying to write a chart in my iPhone cure it.
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The only times I've gotten motion sick in the back wee when I was charting back there.
Bad juju.
Bad juju.
lightsandsirens5
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Get a scrip for zofran.
THIS!!!! Zofran worked wonders in my life! I am finally (after 6 years) getting to where I can run a call without feeling nauseous...but I take one ODT if I can't handle it is viola! I am healed.
I remember my first shift on Zofran...I wanted to find the discoverer/developer and shake their hand.
One word of warning, it can give you a lovely headache. This is compounded tenfold if you are dehydrated. This is all just personal observation though. I stay hydrated and 9/10 timesI don't get a headache. If I am dehydrated however, I will get one.