A Product for Bad Smells?

[crees1234]

As we all know one of the downsides of working in our profession can be the smells we encounter on a day to day basis.

Being new in the field I have realized that bad smells is a pretty big weakness of mine. I have had the most trouble with the homeless person smell. Ugh! The urine/alcohol/vomit combo make for a extremely potent punch to my nose.

I want to know what remedies or solutions you have come up with (or products that are available) to help you deal with the really bad smells you've encountered. Weather it's chewing a piece a gum or putting on a mask. I would like to know what has worked best for you.

Thanks!

[island emt]

A dab of Vicks vopo rub under the nose will do wonders.

[crotchitymedic1986]

Vicks in your nose works, but I could never find it when i needed it. Wearing your hepa mask will help some, a strong cough drop (extra strength) also can help. Any rub/salve/ointment that can be put in nostrils or right under nostrils is helpful.

[tcripp]

My solution is to breathe through your mouth and not your nose. Downside is that after a while you forget to use your nose when you really need to "smell" on a call. I've been doing it for so long that I once ran a call on a decomp and didn't even recognize it (the smell) until afterwards...when I could smell me. ha ha

[DFIB]

Because of my age I'm a nose breather so I go with vicks. There is a vicks cream that can be applied inside the nostrils. It's not a panacea but helps.

[tcripp]

Because of my age I'm a nose breather so I go with vicks. There is a vicks cream that can be applied inside the nostrils. It's not a panacea but helps.

Because of your age?

[Happiness]

I also use vicks, I once told and RCMP officer to do this and he said while in cop school he was told not to. The reason was that you will start to associate the vicks with death etc. and if you have small children and they are sick wearing vicks it will bring up those associations.

[Just Plain Ruff]

A face mask that is used for protection placed over the mouth and nose and then a couple of alcohol swabs placed in the corners worked well for me.

Vicks works, as does any of those knock off products or similar ones.

Put some cherry chapstick on and then put themask on.

But remember, after a while your nose gets used to the smell and it ends up not being so bad unless of course you are working with decomp, nothing get's rid of that smell

After the call - take some tap water, then put a couple of drops of rose petal essence in the water. mix it up. Then take a few drops and sniff into the nose. or better yet use a nose spray bottle and put the mixture in it. Spray into the nose both sides. What happens with these smells and why they linger in your nose so long is that they coat the nose hairs and small hairs in side the nasal passagways.

When you use the spray or sniff the mixture, it sort of washes away the odor molecules and cleans the nose hairs/small hairs.

I learned this from a very well known (nationally known) coroner when I went to hear him speak at a conference.

Edited September 7, 2011 by Ruffems

[HERBIE1]

Crees-

Most of us have some type of lip balm- especially if we are dealing with cold sores. Carmex brand has a very potent smell, and I put it right under my nose if we get a real stinker. I also breathe through my mouth-I instinctively do this with our homeless folks and DOA's. Works well. I concur with rinsing out the nose(plain saline works OK too) to get rid of the residual smell like burnt flesh and decomp, Those aromas take forever to get rid of and you can smell them all day.

Some folks are more sensitive than others, but this is not a good profession to be in if you are hypersensitive. Most people have one or 2 things that really get to them- GI bleeds, vomit, urine, feces- everyone is different. You also can have days where you are much more sensitive than others- a single whiff of something could cause you to gag, and other days you could be knee deep in body parts and not bat an eye.

Here's an EMS rule of thumb- At some point, you WILL get the worst smelling patients and severely decomposing bodies IMMEDIATELY after you finish the last bite of a heavy pasta meal. If you can keep from barking at your shoes, you're in the right profession. Extra points awarded for being able to point out the irony of the situation and describe the meal as you encounter that body.

[scratrat]

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