# Desensitizing myself to blood



## UrbanPrepper (Jan 23, 2014)

So here's the skinny.

I currently carry a medpack that's good for one to two people. I'm fairly knowledgeable about basic first aid (hydration, fractures, dislocations and wounds such as abrasions and minor incisions or lacerations but I want to take more classes. My issue is how squeamish I am when it comes to serious trauma such as arterial bleeding via something like a major abrasion laceration or even an amputation and the like. Just thinking of it now makes me a tad queasy. 

If I want to get to a place where I feel comfortable using things like hemostats or performing something like suturing a wound I gotta get this under control. I live in NYC and wake up every day knowing that I live in a city which seems to have a bright red target painted on it. Don't get me wrong. I live a normal life. It's not like I have tinfoil over my windows and am a shut in. I just know it's not a matter of if there is another SHTF situ but when and when it happens I want to be sure I'm able to provide care for myself, my family and anyone else I can. We've had a number of attempts in recent years, most notably the idiot in Times Square who tried to blow up his SUV. Eventually someone is gonna get it right.

So, any advice on how to stop being such a girly-girl when it comes to blood? I'm going to be taking some Red Cross classes in the summer and would like to get a handle on things now.

Thanks.﻿


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## MrsInor (Apr 15, 2013)

Lot's of bloody youtube videos out there. You can pause them if you need to take a break.
Ask if you can watch a butcher work. Or a vet.


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## retired guard (Mar 7, 2013)

Desensitizing your self to blood you are protected from is a good thing but do not leave yourself vulnerable to blood borne pathogens. Are you familiar with those and protective measures?


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## Just Sayin' (Dec 5, 2013)

It's natural to be squeamish about blood, there's probably an undiscovered gene that is responsible for it. The antidote to it is knowledge. It is very different when you see blood and have no idea what to do, than when you see blood and know what you need to do. Keep on taking your classes and learning what to do in different situations and see if you are still squeamish. And like Mrs. Inor said, volunteer with a veterinarian. I'll bet you find you're not as squeamish as you used to be.


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## Will2 (Mar 20, 2013)

F- it

Dude you arn't a kid. buck up and get over it stop letting your mind tell you what to do. Start telling your mind what you want your body to do if it ain't doing it yet.


It is fluid, wtf is your problem?

Do you get all faint when you pour a glass of milk or turn on a tap

my gawd.

it is just stupid. 


just get your hands in there like you are phelps swimming for a gold.


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## paraquack (Mar 1, 2013)

I never knew how I'd react to blood and guts all over the place, just like I never knew how I'd do at the first autopsy. Some people do ok, some puke the guts outs. The big thing is to spit the puke out of your mouth and get to it, if you plan on saving a life. Fortunately my reaction was always after the fact. More than once I had to have the ambulance pull over for me on the way back to the barn. Eventually you realize that you can't be of any service to the injured person if you're puking. Some of my colleagues said they looked only at the injury as if it didn't belong to a person. I find it hard to divorce the injury from the person, especially when they're screaming or begging someone to make the pain go away, or asking if they are going to die. My big problem has always be triage. Putting a black tag on someone who is alive when you know that by doing so, you've sealed his fate, really gets to me. But it has to be done.


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## Inor (Mar 22, 2013)

paraquack said:


> I never knew how I'd react to blood and guts all over the place, just like I never knew how I'd do at the first autopsy. Some people do ok, some puke the guts outs. The big thing is to spit the puke out of your mouth and get to it, if you plan on saving a life. Fortunately my reaction was always after the fact. More than once I had to have the ambulance pull over for me on the way back to the barn. Eventually you realize that you can't be of any service to the injured person if you're puking. Some of my colleagues said they looked only at the injury as if it didn't belong to a person. I find it hard to divorce the injury from the person, especially when they're screaming or begging someone to make the pain go away, or asking if they are going to die. My big problem has always be triage. Putting a black tag on someone who is alive when you know that by doing so, you've sealed his fate, really gets to me. But it has to be done.


I need to learn that, but really do not want to.


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## pheniox17 (Dec 12, 2013)

my advice, you will get caught in the moment and do what needs to be done, focus on saving the life, worry about the yuckyness of blood later, with a good bleeder you will be covered in it.. and when the adrenaline starts flowing, training takes over


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## csi-tech (Apr 13, 2013)

Come on over. I'll show you some autopsy and crime scene photos.


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## Slippy (Nov 14, 2013)

I agree with Mrs. Inor, start by looking at some videos on a regular basis. When you get to the point where you can view the videos without any negative reaction take it to the next level. Good luck.


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## Notsoyoung (Dec 2, 2013)

When I grew up we butchered our own meat, but living in N.Y. City there are probably some kind of laws about killing and butchering hogs in your apartment.


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## spokes (Feb 22, 2014)

Take the word of a nurse, retired after 40 years of service.

You are normal.

Now get over it!

Like MrsInor said, find somebody who is butchering and offer to help. Ask the owner of a meat market that custom butchers if they would let you watch the process from dispatch to freezer. Get a hunting license and shoot a deer. Field dress it yourself.

IMHO videos are good but nothing beats the real thing. Yes, you may get queasy. That is only human. Make sure you have a chair handy so you can set down quickly and put your head down between your knees if necessary to prevent fainting. Then as the old saying goes, walk it off and jump back into the game. 

In a real life emergency situation you cannot take the time to focus on your own reaction to potential blood and gore. When lives depend on you, you must act depending on your education and instinct. If I'm suffering an arterial bleed from trauma, I want somebody to help me who has the ability to detach themselves from the sight of my blood and the coolness of thought to immediately clamp a tourniquet on my arm or leg and keep me from bleeding out.

You can react later, puke, vomit, throw up or pass out, but you cannot afford yourself that luxury in an emergency situation.

If you cannot do that, you need to step back and let somebody who can handle it do the job.

Sorry to sound tough but I think that you have the ability to handle this problem if you let yourself. the fact that you are aware of it, tells me that.

I think you will do fine in a real life scenario and will more than likely surprise yourself.


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## 2000ShadowACE (Jan 14, 2014)

It is perfectly natural to be squeamish about blood. The thing is to get as much training as you can and let the training take over in a bad situation. When my neighbor took a shotgun blast to the chest at point blank range it made a god-awful hole but did not penetrate enough to stop the heart. Another neighbor was a combat medic during the Viet Nam war and he even puked at the site, but then he took over and had me grab some saran wrap out of my kitchen and told me to hold it over the hole until the paramedics arrived. He then tried to perform CPR, but the victim was too badly injured to save. The thing is I didn't even think about all the blood until after the fact. Then it hit me like a ton of bricks. The training had taken over and I was on auto pilot until it was over.


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## rice paddy daddy (Jul 17, 2012)

pheniox17 said:


> my advice, you will get caught in the moment and do what needs to be done, focus on saving the life, worry about the yuckyness of blood later, with a good bleeder you will be covered in it.. and when the adrenaline starts flowing, training takes over


All Army recruits in the 1960's recieved basic battlefield first aid in Basic Training. They probably still do. I paid close attention, in fact to this day I can remember The Four Lifesaving Steps. (1. Stop the bleeding, 2. clear the airway, 3. protect the wound, 4. treat for shock)
When I was exposed to what high velocity projectiles can do to a human body my brain automatically defaulted to the imprinted training. Just like pheniox17 said.


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## pastornator (Apr 5, 2013)

I too am one who has had problems dealing with blood -- specifically "human" blood. No problem with animals, and I've done my own birthing, butchering, etc., since I was a kid, but show me a people bleeding and I get queasy like many others.

I've had to simply immerse myself into the act to get beyond that and now, I've found that I can do what I need to do, but that I will pay the price for that later, especially if we're just sitting around talking about the issue. In fact, just typing this is getting my normal adverse reaction up and running. It is a fight or flight thing and difficult to control, in that the autonomous body system just starts to kick in. The trick is to learn to deal with the stress part of the issue that kicks in all the other reactions because it is the stress that fires the first salvo that leads to full fight or flight.

As a facilities manager, I've had to deal with any number of blood incidents, training in blood-borne pathogens, PPE training, etc., and I make blood and other bodily fluid clean-ups on a rather frequent basis. I've reminded myself that it is "just cleaning barn..." and that helps. I've also triaged quite a few bloody accidents (I never puke, but I do tend to get light-headed and can and will pass out, especially if it is MY blood involved). Weird, because I'm immune to most stuff in ways that most people are not, but this issue is always a struggle for me. Probably due to all the surgeries, bleeding issues, etc., I've had in my own life. To my body, blood = death trauma, even if I know otherwise. I was born with multiple severe birth defects and have seen too much of my own blood spilled, and at a very formative age (that has caused a lot of memory blanking from my first 10 or so years, but obviously the blood issue is a subconcious reminder). Once, after having my sternum and lower ribs removed in the first successful attempt at that sort of surgery at Milwaukee Children's Hospital, my entire chest was split open and my insides came out due to the negligence of a nurse. I carry multiple scars from this event on my chest and legs where they simply sliced away to find a useable vein to start restoring my blood supply. I believe that effects me in ways I cannot know consciously.


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## Coppertop (Dec 20, 2013)

I am going through the same dilemma. I am thinking about becoming an EMT, but worry about my weak stomach. I don't think I would have a problem with the blood (lifelong hunter, butcher, and have been around a few different "wrecks"). I worry more about other body secretions and mostly the smell, which seems to trigger my gagging response. I know that in the moment of helping someone I would be ok, but riding along with them after the adrenaline wears off is what would be tough on me I think. 

How do you deal with the adrenaline dump- mostly on the "down" side while still dealing with someone? 

Thanks


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## PalmettoTree (Jun 8, 2013)

UrbanPrepper said:


> So here's the skinny.
> 
> I currently carry a medpack that's good for one to two people. I'm fairly knowledgeable about basic first aid (hydration, fractures, dislocations and wounds such as abrasions and minor incisions or lacerations but I want to take more classes. My issue is how squeamish I am when it comes to serious trauma such as arterial bleeding via something like a major abrasion laceration or even an amputation and the like. Just thinking of it now makes me a tad queasy.
> 
> ...


I have all ideas judging by your approach to this you will perform just fine when you are called to perform.


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## spokes (Feb 22, 2014)

Once again, it is a matter of experience. Some things you never get used to but the human psyche has a way of dealing with it.

I have done CPR numerous times in my career. Seemed like every time I took a refresher course, within 8 weeks I would be pumping on somebody's chest or breathing air into them. It was like a jinx. In my job, I also had to see people I'd taken care of for years decline and die. You become attached to your patients no matter what they teach you. When they die, if you are lucky as sad as that sounds, you are able to be with them at the end so they do not die alone, then you pronounce them dead, take a deep breath and go out to your desk to do the necessary phone calls/paper work.

I hated it.

I had to remain dry eyed and in control no matter what, for the family and for my staff. I had to be strong and I generally was until some silly thing on TV would trigger something inside of me and I would find myself sitting and sobbing my heart out. Grieving for all those lost and suffering. I asked a fellow nurse about this phenomena and she replied. "You are normal. Don't worry about it, it's the way we cope as nurses".

I have no advice for you other than not to be surprised if this happens to you post adrenaline surge. It is normal. Meditation helps, prayer helps, sometimes a few stout drinks help.

Remember that you are human, after all.



Coppertop said:


> I am going through the same dilemma. I am thinking about becoming an EMT, but worry about my weak stomach. I don't think I would have a problem with the blood (lifelong hunter, butcher, and have been around a few different "wrecks"). I worry more about other body secretions and mostly the smell, which seems to trigger my gagging response. I know that in the moment of helping someone I would be ok, but riding along with them after the adrenaline wears off is what would be tough on me I think.
> 
> How do you deal with the adrenaline dump- mostly on the "down" side while still dealing with someone?
> 
> Thanks


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## Beach Kowboy (Feb 13, 2014)

I will tell you how I started.. Hog hunting in south/central Florida.. Using dogs, not guns.. I have had to stitch up many a dog and even several people including myself.. Nothing like stitching your self while still in high school with 4lb fishing line.. Now I have the real stuff though... You best bet is to deal with real blood and guts, however you choose to do so is up to you..


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## Pir8fan (Nov 16, 2012)

UrbanPrepper said:


> So here's the skinny.
> 
> I currently carry a medpack that's good for one to two people. I'm fairly knowledgeable about basic first aid (hydration, fractures, dislocations and wounds such as abrasions and minor incisions or lacerations but I want to take more classes. My issue is how squeamish I am when it comes to serious trauma such as arterial bleeding via something like a major abrasion laceration or even an amputation and the like. Just thinking of it now makes me a tad queasy.
> 
> ...


If you had been sewn up as a kid as many time as I was, this wouldn't be a problem at all. Instead, you could just look at a wound and know exactly how many stitches would be needed.


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## pheniox17 (Dec 12, 2013)

effects of a major injury to a non emt civilian 

1st what the **** do I do
2nd what the **** do I do

3rd training starts to float

4th what the **** do I do

5th the shot of adrenaline kicks in (this is normally trigged through the horrific image, or a scream)

6th your thoughts assemble

7 Dr ABCD (or what whatever you yanks call it, airway, breathing, circulation, danger)

8 you get to work, with the best knowledge you have

9 emt arrives, if CPR is needed, stay around (you have to anyway) and take turns, its extorting

10 emt will transport the person to a medical facility, police will want a quick word

11 the "overwhelming illness" kicks in

12.... run to a toilet (preferred at a pub)

13 order a shot of the "spirit of choice"

14 consume

15 under no circumstances, find out if the life you worked on recovered (you are better off not knowing) 

16 wonder why the **** you helped to start with 

note: individual experiences may very

and trust me it doesn't get easier, but better if it's someone you don't know, when it someone you do know... steps 1,2 and 4 hang around longer (and 15 is near impossible to avoid)

steps 1-6 will feel like hours, but actually will only take seconds 

steps 13 and 14 work well for me, doesn't mean it will work for you, find a decent suicide/counselling phone number to help you out of that works for you...

(**** I need a drink)


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## specknowsbest (Jan 5, 2014)

Get your certification as a Veterinary Aid, then volunteer or work part time at the local animal shelter that has a veterinarian on the payroll or one who does weekly visits/surgeries. It's a more expensive way to do it (but can be done quickly through several online institutes) and you pick up a good skill set for taking care of animals, from dogs & cats to farm animals. Get in a few nasty surgeries there and you'll become desensitized real quick. Or, just find a butcher shop that doesn't mind you watching the process. I vote go the route where you also get a good skill set that could be useful for caring for your own pets in a SHTF scenario, or livestock in a WROL scenario. Hell, if anything, you learn how to plug arterial bleeding, proper suture methods and appropriate medication of antibiotics for animals that have a similar metabolism and size to humans (pigs).

Funny things for me though, I'm opposite of many here when it comes to what they're squeamish with. A person bleeding severely never bothers me, but an animal always kind of makes my stomach sink a little bit, unless it was me hunting and field dressing a good kill. Probably because I like animals more than people. Life experience example, my mom had just picked me up from the O'Hare airport in Chicago and we were heading back home in Indiana. 

We came across a nasty crash where a guy outright rear-ended a truck trailer. Got out to check on everyone, the driver that rear-ended the trailer was banged up badly, lacerations to the face so bad he didn't have much for lips anymore, and glass was in his forehead (idiot wasn't wearing a seatbelt). He had an open fracture of his right forearm, and his back was "Fuzzy" as he described it. On account of the back I treated his immediately visible injuries in the car. But after a good ten minutes of EMTs not arriving on scene I did a movement test with his feet and legs to ensure that he still had movement before removing him from the vehicle and having him lay on a blanket along the grassy ditch away from the road to wait for EMTs. The whole process didn't bother me in the least, I just did it. But if you give me a dog with parvo or an open wound that's infected I get a little churn in the stomach. lol


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## Beach Kowboy (Feb 13, 2014)

specknowsbest said:


> Get your certification as a Veterinary Aid, then volunteer or work part time at the local animal shelter that has a veterinarian on the payroll or one who does weekly visits/surgeries. It's a more expensive way to do it (but can be done quickly through several online institutes) and you pick up a good skill set for taking care of animals, from dogs & cats to farm animals. Get in a few nasty surgeries there and you'll become desensitized real quick. Or, just find a butcher shop that doesn't mind you watching the process. I vote go the route where you also get a good skill set that could be useful for caring for your own pets in a SHTF scenario, or livestock in a WROL scenario. Hell, if anything, you learn how to plug arterial bleeding, proper suture methods and appropriate medication of antibiotics for animals that have a similar metabolism and size to humans (pigs).
> 
> Funny things for me though, I'm opposite of many here when it comes to what they're squeamish with. A person bleeding severely never bothers me, but an animal always kind of makes my stomach sink a little bit, unless it was me hunting and field dressing a good kill. Probably because I like animals more than people. Life experience example, my mom had just picked me up from the O'Hare airport in Chicago and we were heading back home in Indiana.
> 
> We came across a nasty crash where a guy outright rear-ended a truck trailer. Got out to check on everyone, the driver that rear-ended the trailer was banged up badly, lacerations to the face so bad he didn't have much for lips anymore, and glass was in his forehead (idiot wasn't wearing a seatbelt). He had an open fracture of his right forearm, and his back was "Fuzzy" as he described it. On account of the back I treated his immediately visible injuries in the car. But after a good ten minutes of EMTs not arriving on scene I did a movement test with his feet and legs to ensure that he still had movement before removing him from the vehicle and having him lay on a blanket along the grassy ditch away from the road to wait for EMTs. The whole process didn't bother me in the least, I just did it. But if you give me a dog with parvo or an open wound that's infected I get a little churn in the stomach. lol


Excellent post. We had a neighbor growing up that is a large animal vet and my brother and I would help him out all the time. I learned a LOT of stuff from him. Working on animals will help you enormously.. You would be surprised what you can learn working on animals. Like stated above, it will also help out desensitizing you as well.. Plus, if you have your own animals you will know what to do if something happens to them. It saves a TON of money on vet bills too.


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