# Interested in EMT-B, but how do i get used to the gore



## HDrol43560 (Oct 21, 2010)

On paper EMT B is something I really wanna do. But in practice, I dont know if i can actually handle the sights and smells of a gruesome death. How do I prepare myself for this? I plan on taking the class anyway. I really dont wanna be a coward but I just dont know if il pass out or break down.


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## Pittsburgh77 (Oct 21, 2010)

Trauma consists of about 25% of calls. And I'd say about less than 10% consits of "blood and gore."

Honestly, it all has to be with maturity and professionalism.


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## Handsome Robb (Oct 21, 2010)

The gore isn't bad, well for me anyways. What really gets me is the pukers.


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## HDrol43560 (Oct 21, 2010)

Pittsburgh77 said:


> Trauma consists of about 25% of calls. And I'd say about less than 10% consits of "blood and gore."
> 
> Honestly, it all has to be with maturity and professionalism.



I figured it would be something like that. Im the kind of person that would enjoy talking and joking around with patients so I think i wouldnt have a problem at all with the small cases.


That 10 percent still kinda worries me though.


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## CAO (Oct 21, 2010)

Everyone has something that bothers them more than others.  My instructor couldn't take nosebleeds of all things.  Some don't like bad cuts, others broken bones.

You just gotta learn to deal with it.  During that small percentages of calls (the really good or really bad depending on who you're talking to) you're usually too busy to be bothered by it.  It's afterwards you begin to think about it.

At least that's the way I am.


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## Shishkabob (Oct 21, 2010)

You don't even think about it during the call... you're too focused at providing patient care to go "That's sticking out of what?!"


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## Seaglass (Oct 21, 2010)

The trick is to get past the gag reflex and learn to look at it like a puzzle. Look through a textbook and find the gory pictures. Label everything that's showing. Try to figure out what's wrong. It helped me. 

Just don't let other people, especially those outside the field, catch you going it.  

For smells, there's no way to get over it except exposure.


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## mcdonl (Oct 21, 2010)

*For me... it's the smells....*

And what kills me is that you tend to associate smells... I had a call, very (800 +/- pound dead guy) and it smelled bad.

That was the day I got my new EMT-I text book. Now, every time I open the book I smell death... sometimes it is due to the material :wacko: but mostly because I opened the book at the station after that call and when you leave a call that smells that bad everything takes on the smell... 

And, trust me... when you get to that first bad trauma call you should be so focused on what you are doing you will not even notice.


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## fortsmithman (Oct 21, 2010)

For the smells I put some Vicks in each nostril.


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## CAO (Oct 21, 2010)

Patricia Cornwell books talk about the Vicks during autopsies.  Never tried it myself.

For the past 8 years, I've worked in a daycare.  Smells don't seem to bother me much anymore, haha.  It helps that I usually chew some strong scented gum to help mask it.


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## Lifeguards For Life (Oct 22, 2010)

The best way to "get used to the gore is to get" properly educated.


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## Sandog (Oct 22, 2010)

Lifeguards For Life said:


> The best way to "get used to the gore is to get" properly educated.



I must of missed that class. What was it, Stink and Goo 101 ? Is there an accelerated online version ? :unsure:


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## CAOX3 (Oct 22, 2010)

Lifeguards For Life said:


> The best way to "get used to the gore is to get" properly educated.



Hmmm. Funny I had an ER doc toss his cookies on my shoes awhile back.

He must have been improperly educated.

Sorry I dont see the correlation.


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## firetender (Oct 22, 2010)

More time spent doing
= less time spent puking


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## Pittsburgh77 (Oct 22, 2010)

HDrol43560 said:


> That 10 percent still kinda worries me though.



Well if you're so worried then maybe you should consider look into a more low-key career.... maybe you can become a librarian. I hear it's pretty quiet and there aren't too many traumatic injuries you'll be dealing withh34r:


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## citizensoldierny (Oct 22, 2010)

I personally never found gore to be a problem until I got to assist a PA with a debridement one time at my nursing job. He started on a little necrotic area on an elderly womans thigh which had quite a track under it that was all quite dead, little by little what started as a about a quarter on the outside became about the size of my hand:wacko: All the while he was cutting and tossing dead flesh and occasionally missing the basin. As for smells I've been blessed with allergies and between flonase and stuffiness I tend to only smell  scents that are really strong.


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## dudemanguy (Oct 22, 2010)

Take some anatomy and physiology classes and find out what the "gore" is and what it does. The human body is a very complex organic machine, rather than looking at it as something that is gross or scarey, educate yourself about it.

As an EMT you have a job you have to perform, you should be too busy focusing on what you should be doing to worry about the other stuff. As stated some smells can be tough to work around, but you get used to it. Fortunately my time working as a CNA left me accustomed to working around some awful smells.


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## HDrol43560 (Oct 22, 2010)

Thanks for the responses guys. 

I should add, im not worried about the emotional aspect of the job, even though its very real. Im more worried about my physical reactions. I really dont wanna be the guy that passes out or throws up. Emotional trauma is something I can live with, but I dont want anything effecting how I do my job or what kinds of impression I leave on people.


I can easily watch surgery videos or look at "gorey" pictures on the internet but who knows how i will react in real life.


I remember last year in bio lab, I got a little queezy when we had to dissect a dead rat. Fast forward to the summer of that year though and i was doing surgery myself on live rats in a lab. I know humans arnt exactly rats but i still have optimism to get over stupid stuff like this.


And yeah, im taking A and P 1 right now actually and i like it and am doing well in it.


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## EMS49393 (Oct 22, 2010)

Try getting through a cadaver lab.  It's not the dead things so much as the preservatives they use that stink. Of course, they have new ones that aren't nearly as bad as formaldehyde, but they still reek to high heaven, in my opinion.  It will at least get you used to smelling funk and looking at guts albeit relatively clean guts.  

Any cadaver lab will do.  My last A&P class did a cat.  God, that was gross.  I'll take puked on any day over preserved dead cat guts.


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## HDrol43560 (Oct 22, 2010)

EMS49393 said:


> Try getting through a cadaver lab.  It's not the dead things so much as the preservatives they use that stink. Of course, they have new ones that aren't nearly as bad as formaldehyde, but they still reek to high heaven, in my opinion.  It will at least get you used to smelling funk and looking at guts albeit relatively clean guts.
> 
> Any cadaver lab will do.  My last A&P class did a cat.  God, that was gross.  I'll take puked on any day over preserved dead cat guts.



Thats probably a good idea. Ive watched a ton of autopsy videos on youtube to try to get used to it and they dont phase me at all. Is there really a big difference between videos and real life?


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## LucidResq (Oct 22, 2010)

HDrol43560 said:


> Thats probably a good idea. Ive watched a ton of autopsy videos on youtube to try to get used to it and they dont phase me at all. Is there really a big difference between videos and real life?



Yes... mainly because of the smells, textures, the potential surprise element - you know what you're getting when you youtube autopsy videos, you might not know what you're going to see when you walk into someone's house on another simple "sick case" or what you'll see when you lift up someone's shirt - and how you feel when you actually have to get your hands in it or it gets on you. Also, for me at least, sometimes the fact that I am dealing with someone who is in pain right now, right in front me, adds a bit. 

I wouldn't be too concerned by it. Everyone on here has had something that touched a nerve... and most have something that will always gross them out, like burns, childbirth, or eye injuries (as stupid as it sounds, for me it's any kind of rash/wound/skin lesion that has a honeycomb pattern or lots of bumps like the maculopapular rash of smallpox :wacko. You just have to figure out a way to cope with it. If it means you have to rub vicks in your nostrils (yes it works) or even step back for a second, take a deep breath and try to stop gagging... as long as you can get back in the game and get 'er done you'll be fine. Yes, there are some people that legitimately can't handle the gore but most people can... especially if you've toughed it out through rat dissections.


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## HDrol43560 (Oct 22, 2010)

LucidResq said:


> Yes... mainly because of the smells, textures, the potential surprise element - you know what you're getting when you youtube autopsy videos, you might not know what you're going to see when you walk into someone's house on another simple "sick case" or what you'll see when you lift up someone's shirt - and how you feel when you actually have to get your hands in it or it gets on you. Also, for me at least, sometimes the fact that I am dealing with someone who is in pain right now, right in front me, adds a bit.
> 
> I wouldn't be too concerned by it. Everyone on here has had something that touched a nerve... and most have something that will always gross them out, like burns, childbirth, or eye injuries (as stupid as it sounds, for me it's any kind of rash/wound/skin lesion that has a honeycomb pattern or lots of bumps like the maculopapular rash of smallpox :wacko. You just have to figure out a way to cope with it. If it means you have to rub vicks in your nostrils (yes it works) or even step back for a second, take a deep breath and try to stop gagging... as long as you can get back in the game and get 'er done you'll be fine. Yes, there are some people that legitimately can't handle the gore but most people can... especially if you've toughed it out through rat dissections.




Ok that gives me hope. Is this normal among aspiring EMTs? The anxiety about gore in general i mean, not little phobias like you were  talking about. Im worried when I take my EMT class next semester , all my classmates will be fearless and unphased by gore while I can barely get through it. I really dont want this to prevent me from becoming an EMT.


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## EMS/LEO505 (Oct 22, 2010)

None of the gore really got to me having been raised on the slasher films...but boy howdy when I took my Gynecology/Obstetrics class I damned near puked....Not saying I dont like "it" but when "its" "sick" it is hella gross! lol

oh, for advice watch discovery health and youll get use to it lol


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## HDrol43560 (Oct 22, 2010)

EMS/LEO505 said:


> None of the gore really got to me having been raised on the slasher films...but boy howdy when I took my Gynecology/Obstetrics class I damned near puked....Not saying I dont like "it" but when "its" "sick" it is hella gross! lol
> 
> oh, for advice watch discovery health and youll get use to it lol



haha ive been doing that a lot recently


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## TacoMEDIC (Oct 22, 2010)

You'll learn that when you are on the scene of a nasty incident, you're there to do a job and to hopefully make a difference for the better. The nastier and more messed up it is, the faster you and you're partner/crew are going to be moving. Maybe its just me, but I know that I tend to disregard any nasty sights, smells, etc because that's the last thing on my mind (unless relevant, of course).


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## Symbolic (Oct 22, 2010)

The smell would get me more than the sight.. I don't do foul odors to well.


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## TacoMEDIC (Oct 22, 2010)

Symbolic said:


> The smell would get me more than the sight.. I don't do foul odors to well.



Vicks Vapor Rub under your nose works. Hanging a nebulizer full of Listerine from the IV hooks on the ceiling of the rig works even better! 

It takes some getting used to. I'm gonna be honest


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## firecoins (Oct 22, 2010)

HDrol43560 said:


> On paper EMT B is something I really wanna do. But in practice, I dont know if i can actually handle the sights and smells of a gruesome death. How do I prepare myself for this? I plan on taking the class anyway. I really dont wanna be a coward but I just dont know if il pass out or break down.



Been doing EMS since 1994.  There is no real way to get over Al Gore.


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## 46Young (Oct 22, 2010)

CAO said:


> Patricia Cornwell books talk about the Vicks during autopsies.  Never tried it myself.
> 
> For the past 8 years, I've worked in a daycare.  Smells don't seem to bother me much anymore, haha.  It helps that I usually chew some strong scented gum to help mask it.



You don't find that the Vicks just opens up your nostrils so that you smell more of the funk? Personally, I've had fantastic results with peppermint oil. It's da bomb!


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## 46Young (Oct 22, 2010)

HDrol43560 said:


> Thats probably a good idea. Ive watched a ton of autopsy videos on youtube to try to get used to it and they dont phase me at all. Is there really a big difference between videos and real life?



What really took me by suprise was how cold the organs were. They pass the different organs around for you to handle. They're just a smidgen above freezing. I was used to handling dead bodies that were either room temperature or greater.


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## 46Young (Oct 22, 2010)

firecoins said:


> Been doing EMS since 1994.  There is no real way to get over Al Gore.



Manbearpig


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## JJR512 (Oct 23, 2010)

fortsmithman said:


> For the smells I put some Vicks in each nostril.



Ah, just for the record...And you may know this already, and even if you don't, I'm sure I'm not going to change what you do, but I feel like saying it anyway...The label for Vicks VapoRub specifically says:


> WARNINGS
> 
> For external use only; avoid contact with eyes.
> 
> ...



http://www.vicks.com/products/vapo-family/vaporub-topical-ointment/ (Click the "package information" tab.)

On a related note, someone in my EMT-B class mentioned using Vicks VapoRub to mask foul odors. The instructor then asked us what does it do? It helps you breath _better_, and one of the ways it does that is by opening up your air passages. Then he asked us what does that mean? It means we're breathing in _more_ of the foul odor we're trying to avoid, with Vicks VapoRub added in.


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## EMS/LEO505 (Oct 23, 2010)

46Young said:


> Manbearpig



Are you super cereal?


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## LucidResq (Oct 23, 2010)

JJR512 said:


> Ah, just for the record...And you may know this already, and even if you don't, I'm sure I'm not going to change what you do, but I feel like saying it anyway...The label for Vicks VapoRub specifically says:
> 
> 
> http://www.vicks.com/products/vapo-family/vaporub-topical-ointment/ (Click the "package information" tab.)
> ...



Yeah.... I still stand by it. This technique has been relayed to me by several physicians, including a neurosurgeon, teaching anatomy and physiology. I've used it in multiple cadaver labs (I've had my hands in 6 cadavers and done lots of random cat/squid/pig dissection) and it never failed me... and I'm still alive and my nostrils didn't burn off.


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## Lifeguards For Life (Oct 23, 2010)

When I have to _deal_ with bad smells, i choose to get over it and do my job.

can of man-up anyone?


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## firecoins (Oct 23, 2010)

46Young said:


> Manbearpig





EMS/LEO505 said:


> Are you super cereal?



I am totally being cereal.


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## 46Young (Oct 23, 2010)

ems/leo505 said:


> are you super cereal?



i'm super duper cereal!! Excelsior!!!


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## Pneumothorax (Oct 23, 2010)

its not all that gross.

well,a little bit.

the smells are what get you.=- like: necrotic decubitus ulcers, someone who hasnt bathed in 3-4 days stewing in their own B.O. & urine/feces.

stuff like that.


when i see things like open fractures i think "wow- pretty cool...time to fix" because i dont plan on breaking any of my own bones to look at haha.


you have to love the field. and when u love it..nothing will get in the way of it.. smells, blood & all LOL


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## SanDiegoEmt7 (Oct 23, 2010)

Lifeguards For Life said:


> When I have to _deal_ with bad smells, i choose to get over it and do my job.
> 
> can of man-up anyone?




Yeah, buuuuuuut it never hurts to make your job easier, 'specially on those looooonger drives.


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## JJR512 (Oct 23, 2010)

Pneumothorax said:


> its not all that gross.
> 
> well,a little bit.
> 
> ...



Ah, like the guy my station got the other day (and I missed it, fortunately): A ~647 pound male, who hadn't been outside in 18 months. Who was too fat to wipe his own ***. Who doesn't bathe even that often—frankly, I can't imagine how he can bathe at all. Yeah, his legs were coated in feces and urine.

One guy who was on that call said, "It's actually more pleasant to imagine eating a bowl of vomit than remembering that call."


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## 46Young (Oct 23, 2010)

JJR512 said:


> Ah, like the guy my station got the other day (and I missed it, fortunately): A ~647 pound male, who hadn't been outside in 18 months. Who was too fat to wipe his own ***. Who doesn't bathe even that often—frankly, I can't imagine how he can bathe at all. Yeah, his legs were coated in feces and urine.
> 
> One guy who was on that call said, "It's actually more pleasant to imagine eating a bowl of vomit than remembering that call."



Call for an engine company, have them pull the forestry hose, and give him a washdown before removal 

Edit: For style points, get the truck crew in on it, have them go into their salvage compartment, and set up a system to collect the runoff.


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## 46Young (Oct 23, 2010)

Lifeguards For Life said:


> When I have to _deal_ with bad smells, i choose to get over it and do my job.
> 
> can of man-up anyone?



I don't care how diesel you are, try riding in the back with a pt that has a perforated colostomy, in the summer heat, in stop and go traffic, with poor A/C. I choked it back numerous times for those 20 mins or so. My driver had to hang his head out of the window.


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## abckidsmom (Oct 23, 2010)

46Young said:


> I don't care how diesel you are, try riding in the back with a pt that has a perforated colostomy, in the summer heat, in stop and go traffic, with poor A/C. I choked it back numerous times for those 20 mins or so. My driver had to hang his head out of the window.



I've used many of my own puke bags over the years.  Add in early pregnancy hormones, and I was just toast. 

Mostly it was motion sickness, but it was always the sign that it was time to hang it up again until after the baby was born.


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## Lifeguards For Life (Oct 23, 2010)

46Young said:


> I don't care how diesel you are, try riding in the back with a pt that has a perforated colostomy, in the summer heat, in stop and go traffic, with poor A/C. I choked it back numerous times for those 20 mins or so. My driver had to hang his head out of the window.



I've done that one once, and it was admittedly the worst smell i have ever experienced.

And I dealt with it, without complaint, much like you did.

Yes, it was a bad smell, but here I am, just fine. (L4L is actually quite twisted in the head, but it is not due to 'ruptured colostomy bag smell'). It was only to be endured for a small time, and then life went on as normal.


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## HDrol43560 (Oct 23, 2010)

lol the perforated colostomy sounds like a good time. 





How do you guys think I will do if I can look at pictures of gruesome stuff just fine(im talking decubitus ulcers, compound fractures, prolapsed rectums etc etc.)? Im really excited to take the course but i really cant say im 100 percent confident in myself. I dont think really queezy people would even be able to look at just pictures of stuff like that, but i can handle that so that gives me a little hope. Plus i see it all the time in my med terminology class. 

It would be great if there was someone here in my position before and got over it who could give me their imput on what it was like.

So what do you guys think?


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## Lifeguards For Life (Oct 23, 2010)

HDrol43560 said:


> lol the perforated colostomy sounds like a good time.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



If you think your ability as an EMT is to be measured by your ability to look at "gruesome stuff", then you have already failed.


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## CAO (Oct 23, 2010)

Kind of.

The things discussed so far in the class, not so much.

It was needles of all things for me.  At the beginning of class, we were told our first IVs would be started on each other.  I didn't exactly like the way that sounded.

But I decided that I wanted this, and I decided to stick D) it out.  Got my line.  Actually had my first IV by the guy I partnered with.  Didn't help that he forgot to occlude when he took the needle out and turned me into a fountain :glare:

"Hahahahaha....uhh...I don't feel good."


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## 46Young (Oct 23, 2010)

HDrol43560 said:


> lol the perforated colostomy sounds like a good time.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Seeing it in person is way different than looking at pictures or video. For me personally, when I see something directly, for a second or two my mind pictures how it would feel if it happened to me. It's like watching someone do a faceplant, or seeing a guy get kicked in the nuts (if you're also a guy, obviously). You kind of "feel it" a little bit, too. It's about whether or not you can push that thought aside and do what you gotta do. 

Can you schedule a clinical observation or something at a nearby level one trauma center? 

Edit: Side note, during one of my ER clinicals during my medic program, one of my fellow students fainted and did a faceplant after seeing a BKA amp from a subway accident. She was already an EMT to begin with, and had planned to go pre-med after the paramedic program. WTF?


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## HDrol43560 (Oct 23, 2010)

Lifeguards For Life said:


> If you think your ability as an EMT is to be measured by your ability to look at "gruesome stuff", then you have already failed.



No I know but its my first obstacle. 



CAO said:


> Kind of.
> 
> The things discussed so far in the class, not so much.
> 
> ...



Wow thats kinda worrying. Dont know how I would feel about someone inexperienced sticking me with a needle but i guess at that point we should know how to do it correctly.



46Young said:


> Seeing it in person is way different than looking at pictures or video. For me personally, when I see something directly, for a second or two my mind pictures how it would feel if it happened to me. It's like watching someone do a faceplant, or seeing a guy get kicked in the nuts (if you're also a guy, obviously). You kind of "feel it" a little bit, too. It's about whether or not you can push that thought aside and do what you gotta do.
> 
> Can you schedule a clinical observation or something at a nearby level one trauma center?
> 
> Edit: Side note, during one of my ER clinicals during my medic program, one of my fellow students fainted and did a faceplant after seeing a BKA amp from a subway accident. She was already an EMT to begin with, and had planned to go pre-med after the paramedic program. WTF?



I actually volunteered at the ER during senior year of high school. Back then, I almost fainted when the doctor was performing arthrocentesis on someone. They noticed i was looking pale and told me to step out. I was pretty pissed at myself. Then again that was 3 years ago. Im pretty sure that wouldnt be a problem now.


Whats a BKA amp btw?


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## 46Young (Oct 23, 2010)

HDrol43560 said:


> No I know but its my first obstacle.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Below the knee amputation. Drunk guy got his leg trapped between the car door and the platform. He got lucky. At my old post, every so often a drunk would get plowed by the 7 train (Corona Queens, 103 st station or sometimes Junction Blvd) and we'd find body parts strewn about on the street below.


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## Lifeguards For Life (Oct 23, 2010)

HDrol43560 said:


> Whats a BKA amp btw?



below knee amputation


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## JJR512 (Oct 24, 2010)

abckidsmom said:


> I've used many of my own puke bags over the years.  Add in early pregnancy hormones, and I was just toast.



I'm not afraid to blame my puking in front of a patient on morning sickness...Even if it's the middle of the night...And despite being male.


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## Pneumothorax (Oct 24, 2010)

JJR512 said:


> Ah, like the guy my station got the other day (and I missed it, fortunately): A ~647 pound male, who hadn't been outside in 18 months. Who was too fat to wipe his own ***. Who doesn't bathe even that often—frankly, I can't imagine how he can bathe at all. Yeah, his legs were coated in feces and urine.
> 
> One guy who was on that call said, "It's actually more pleasant to imagine eating a bowl of vomit than remembering that call."



oh gahhh.

i remmeber working in ICU & saw a dude try to drink his C.Diff diarrhea from the bedpan as i was at the desk eating lunch.

the smell + the visual was less than appealing... he was a psych pt too, so hes gotta bigger problems than poop. :blink:


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## Outbac1 (Oct 24, 2010)

It's not so much about getting used to the gore as it is accepting that it exists. You won't really know how you will be in a situation until you are in it. Remember it's not your blood or body parts that are visable. You didn't cause the situation, you are there to help it.  Most times the anticipation is worse than the actual situation. Chances are you will do fine. 

 The Vicks/Tigerbalm etc. doesn't go in your nose, it goes on your upper lip. And you don't need very much. Just enough to flavor the air. 

  If you really want to be an EMT go for it. The course isn't that long and doesn't cost that much. If you give the job a fair try and find you don't like it, you're not out that much. And you will know you tried what you wanted to do.


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## Seaglass (Oct 25, 2010)

I prefer strong gum to Vick's. It won't open up your nose as much, gets rid of your bad breath, and helps wake you up in the middle of the night. Unless I actually need it, though, I keep it tucked between my gum and cheek. Chomping away during calls isn't all that professional. 

The smell that tends to get me when you get vomit and diarrhea mixed together. Urine, blood, rotting stuff, and the other usual suspects somehow don't bother me as much.

Some people at my station swear by candied ginger as a way to get rid of nausea. I think that's more for motion sickness, but I imagine it could also mask smells.


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## beandip4all (Oct 26, 2010)

Seaglass said:


> The smell that tends to get me when you get vomit and diarrhea mixed together. Urine, blood, rotting stuff, and the other usual suspects somehow don't bother me as much.



Huh... I've found "septic g-tube" to be the worst smell I've ever encountered.  

But plain old unwashed urine for a duration of a month or so is pretty rank, too...


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## the_negro_puppy (Oct 26, 2010)

It all depends where you work I guess. I have been working fulltime in an ALS unit since February and have yet to see anything 'really gory'


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## MrBrown (Oct 26, 2010)

Stop watching all the visual excrement on the telly, Brown has encountered relatively little gore in his time on the road


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## firecoins (Oct 27, 2010)

46Young said:


> Below the knee amputation. Drunk guy got his leg trapped between the car door and the platform. He got lucky. At my old post, every so often a drunk would get plowed by the 7 train (Corona Queens, 103 st station or sometimes Junction Blvd) and we'd find body parts strewn about on the street below.



Just because you found body parts in Corona does not mean it came from someone hit by the 7 train.  Manbearpig used to ride the 7 to Shea.


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## WARR (Nov 26, 2010)

While not an EMT - I could handle blood, guts and stuff. I would have to say that what gets to me is fecal matter, facial injuries (eyes, mouth), and the smell of sickness (sweat, poor hygiene and general uncleanness).


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## JJR512 (Nov 26, 2010)

WARR said:


> While not an EMT - I could handle blood, guts and stuff. I would have to say that what gets to me is fecal matter, facial injuries (eyes, mouth), and the smell of sickness (sweat, poor hygiene and general uncleanness).



Unfortunately you will see a lot of all that stuff, too.


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## AustinNative (Nov 26, 2010)

What has been worrying me about this path, is that I might be too empathetic with the geriatric.  I have been thinking about that one recently. How do you avoid the human feelings one has about your fellow man, especially the aged?  I guess you become detached in time, but this is the one issue I wonder about.

Anyone have any advice on this one?

Oh, and I carry vicks in my bag.  Works GREAT.


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## LucidResq (Nov 26, 2010)

AustinNative said:


> What has been worrying me about this path, is that I might be too empathetic with the geriatric.  I have been thinking about that one recently. How do you avoid the human feelings one has about your fellow man, especially the aged?  I guess you become detached in time, but this is the one issue I wonder about.
> 
> Anyone have any advice on this one?
> 
> Oh, and I carry vicks in my bag.  Works GREAT.



I think everyone has something that touches them. I love elderly folks to bits and nothing gets to me quite like an older man crying. Not sure why. I think it's a matter of how you handle the calls that are rough for you - both in the moment and later on. You have to be able to stay compassionate yet composed in the moment, and not dwell on things too much afterwards. 

One thing you'll find is that a lot of your peers have little respect for elderly folks... and although that irritates me to no end, I personally find some comfort and pride in knowing I treat these people with the respect and care they deserve.


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## 46Young (Nov 26, 2010)

firecoins said:


> Just because you found body parts in Corona does not mean it came from someone hit by the 7 train.  Manbearpig used to ride the 7 to Shea.



You're cereal about that, aren't you?


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## Sandog (Nov 27, 2010)

46Young said:


> You're cereal about that, aren't you?



Mostly at breakfast


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## firetender (Nov 27, 2010)

AustinNative said:


> What has been worrying me about this path, is that I might be too empathetic with the geriatric.  I have been thinking about that one recently. How do you avoid the human feelings one has about your fellow man, especially the aged?  I guess you become detached in time, but this is the one issue I wonder about.
> 
> Anyone have any advice on this one?
> 
> Oh, and I carry vicks in my bag.  Works GREAT.



Would you please start that as a separate thread; good stuff!


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## firetender (Nov 27, 2010)

After reading the posts over again, I realized the OP was asking something like how do you anticipate getting grossed out.

You don't; it just happens.

You can suppress yourself just so far, and if you have to, puke (not on the patient)  and get back to work. The more you fight it the more power it has over you and your judgments around patient care.


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