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aethersnores t1_j3z2ltc wrote

Reply to comment by MacDougalTheLazy in Woman charged after 'unidentifiable' human remains found in north Columbia by MacDougalTheLazy

Try vicks vapor rub or a mint balm above your lip. Worked with dead bodies before, and that always seemed to help with the smell of decay somewhat.

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Ness51 t1_j3zaydh wrote

Totally agree. When I was a new grad I worked at a burn center and we would rub Tiger Balm in our mask during admissions and dressing changes... game changer. Unforgettable smell

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acer34p3r t1_j3zs9cb wrote

We switch between vicks, tiger balm, and peppermint oil depending on what is closest at hand in the emergency department I work in. Gangrenous tissue is... unforgettably revolting.

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mr_oof t1_j3zwnii wrote

Don’t think about Degobah… don’t think about Degobah… don’t think about Degobah…

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MarchionessofMayhem t1_j41c8tu wrote

Oh, lord. The Swamps of Dagobah. shudder

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Autumn1881 t1_j438kga wrote

It’s the first thing I think about when someone mentions peppermint oil. Which is thankfully not too often….

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onlycatshere t1_j413jg7 wrote

I usually use a drop of peppermint oil above my lip or inside my mask, but after working a post-mortem apartment unit turnover (unattended death), gotta say the best way to cut the death smell is a respirator with the right cans.

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CALsHero09 t1_j41p2kh wrote

For dead bodies find a spray called ozium. Kill bacteria in the air, and smells like lemons. Works pretty good. Used it in the mortuary i worked at.

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aethersnores t1_j41shez wrote

I've heard of ozium but mostly in the context of other dank smells lol but I wish I would have known about that several years ago. We had to exhume a body that was three years in the ground for one of those mesothelioma autopsies and even though there was a concrete vault water still got into the casket. The body was GREEN. Like a darker shade of Hulk green. And the lining of the casket was caked with mold. When we opened it, whatever we were spraying was not working. The only thing that helped was some mint stuff to put under our masks. I have never smelled a worse smell in my life ten years later and like with the OP, it was a smell that just lingered in my senses for days.

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CALsHero09 t1_j41trsc wrote

I got lucky with the one that i did. It was interred in a wall for like 20 something years. Husband wanted her cremated, at her time of death the family wouldnt allow it and it was her dying wish. So we had to remove all the metal from the casket, huge wooden casket, while she was in there. Pretty crazy, pretty cool. You could see the crack in her skull that killed her. Everything was so desicated there wasnt really any smell at all.

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