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

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?
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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.
 
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.
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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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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
 
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
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haha ive been doing that a lot recently
 
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).
 
The smell would get me more than the sight.. I don't do foul odors to well.
 
Symbolic said:
The smell would get me more than the sight.. I don't do foul odors to well.
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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
 
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.
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Been doing EMS since 1994. There is no real way to get over Al Gore.
 
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.
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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!
 
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?
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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.
 
fortsmithman said:
For the smells I put some Vicks in each nostril.
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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.

Do not use:
  • By mouth
  • With tight bandages
  • In nostrils
  • On wounds or damaged skin
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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.
 
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.)

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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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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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
 
Pneumothorax said:
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.
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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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