How to stop Gagging

[tukster52]

I am getting a little PO'd at myself because every time I see a patient's feces or vomitus, I start to gag. What the heck do I do about that? I have no trouble with blood but I sure start to lose it on everything else. For some reason, the smell does not bother me too much (I breathe through my mouth when that happens). I am really embarrassed about this and would appreciate some suggestions to cope so I can do my job!

 

[Arkymedic]

I am getting a little PO'd at myself because every time I see a patient's feces or vomitus, I start to gag. What the heck do I do about that? I have no trouble with blood but I sure start to lose it on everything else. For some reason, the smell does not bother me too much (I breathe through my mouth when that happens). I am really embarrassed about this and would appreciate some suggestions to cope so I can do my job!

We all have our own triggers and for each person dealing is different so I don't really know what to suggest...

 

[NRNCEMT]

Carry a small bottle of sanitizer in your cargo pocket. When you come up on a "bad" scene, take the bottle out and wipe a little bit of the sanitizer on your upper lip under your nose and your set. Works very well with B.O. also.

 

[Topher38]

If you chew minty gum that helps too.

I remeber when I was in Biology and we disected pigs, the smell really wasn't that bad but after 3-4 days the pigs start to stink cause it was in the summer heat.

Teacher told us to chew minty gum and it would help us deal with the smell. Barely even noticed the smell actually haha.

 

[rgnoon]

As I think I may have mentioned before here, I use Vick's Vapo-rub for the particularly bad smelling calls (the odor of vomitus and feces often make me gag). A small bit in each nostril and I have one less distraction. Quite a few of the folks I work with seem to have picked up the habit of carrying a small container of vicks' with them "just in case".

I know that you say the smell doesn't bother you specifically, but our olfactory sense can be one of the most powerful. We all have to find ways around particular weaknesses that we may have, it is simply part of learning and growing in this or any profession.

 

[Outbac1]

Yup. I carry a little container too. I use a single contact lens case trimmed down. It is in the bottom of my glove pouch. It doesn't get used very often, maybe a couple of times a year. However when you want it, you want it now. A little dab on the moustache works every time.

 

[Street Dancer]

I once worked with a Basic with 18 yrs experience. Every time a patient would start to vomit she would bail. So don't feel too bad.

I am sorry I do not know a quick fix, like someone has already said we all have our triggers. Mine is the smell of a GI bleed. :wacko:

 

[Ridryder911]

Spray some cologne in a mask, and wear it while performing the tasks.

R/r 911

 

[jordanfstop]

of course there's the whole vaseline-under-the-nose trick.

 

[Epi-do]

I tend to have a sympathetic gag reflex - they puke & I gag. I've been doing this job for almost 9 years now, and still haven't found anything that really works for me. (Fortunately I have only actually puked on one run though, and it was the worst GI bleed I have ever been on. I voluteered to go out and get the cot and made a stop in the bushes on my way back to the truck.) You do, eventually, get aclimated to things though, and I am not as quick to gag as I once was.

The suction unit being turned on used to get me every single time. Now, I still turn green, but I don't actually gag anymore. Maybe there is hope yet that I will eventually get over that one.

 

[firetender]

Spray some cologne in a mask, and wear it while performing the tasks.

R/r 911

I can see it now!

Partner 1 : What a Stinker!

Partner 2 : Technically, they're called called "Floaters"

Partner 1 : Sorry...Phewww!

Partner 2 : (Taking face mask out of his pocket) I have something for you.

Partner 1 : What are you putting into it?

Partner 2 : Old Spice

Partner 1 : Oh...no thanks, I prefer Chanel.

 

[Jerry]

Hi

I found your forum looking for information on an video project I'm doing about gagging.

I'm a retired dental hygienist from the US now living in the UK, and as an RDH I came across my share of gagging episodes and vomiting.

In 1976 I learned a technique called the Temporal Tap, and you can find out more about it here at http://www.drstuart.net/temporal.htm called "Self-Help through the "Temporal Tap".

Please don't consider this as spam because I have nothing to do with the site.

I've used it on many patients and used it on myself to over come the smell of changing my children's diapers and to help my ex-father-in-law with his gagging when he had to handle vomiting with his wife during her chemo.

I'll check back in later to see if anyone has any questions.

Hope it helps.

Cheers
Jerry

 

[Meursault]

Applied kinesiology?
On a site that prominently lists applications for fibromyalgia and "natural alternative healing"?

Yeah, I'm going to stick with Vick's and mouth breathing.

 

[rgnoon]

I'm going with the vicks' "nasal smear" over the temopral tap.

 

[emtwacker710]

I'm a bit wierd when it comes to that kind of stuff, when I'm on duty and am caring for a pt. nothing that I have come across so far, bothers me, (smell and bodily fluid wise) although when I'm off duty and like a family member is sick or something for some reason the smell gets to me and I can't stand it, I'm not sure what it is maybe I just slip into a mode when the tones drop and I just don't notice it.

 

[ErinCooley]

I'm stressing about this. In my 200 or so ride-along hours I didnt see one gross thing... HOWEVER, I'm typically the girl who throws up when I hear someone else throw up. Smells dont bother me, :censored::censored::censored::censored: doesnt bother me, its just the sound. I'm praying (serious, I pray about this!) that I handle the first one well. I graduate Saturday (3 days) and take NR (emt-i) on the 20th and the 22nd.

PS, I DO carry a very small container of vicks in my pants. I found a blistex/carmex-sized canister of it at Eckerd/Rite Aid which isnt too bulky to carry 24/7 in the pocket.

 

[LucidResq]

Vicks and mouth-breathing. Period.

In my first semester of A&P our cadaver had been in use by the college for a little over a year. Oh yeah... it was as bad as you think it was. Whenever we had a cadaver lab day I loaded the Vick's on my nose, a trick taught to me by the best bio 101 teacher in the world.

When I did another cadaver lab a couple of months later at a different college, I knew to load up on the Vick's. I was the only student that had done serious dissection or prosection before. Most of the students didn't even use the offered Vick's and others daintily put a tiny smear under their noses. They all laughed at me when I put gobs of the stuff under my nose and kept some in a tissue for later.

Guess who had the last laugh? Over half of them had to leave the lab or stand 5 feet away from the cadaver, while I was able to get up close and see everything.

Sorry for the tangent, but yes Vicks is awesome.

 

[BossyCow]

Okay, I gotta ask... How many of you Vicks users now totally associate the smell of Vicks with the ickies that you are trying not to smell. I think if I tried that, I'd probably end up puking every time I smelled Vicks.

Luckily those smells haven't bothered me too much. I've found the worst part is the lingering essence still in my nose for an hour or so after.