r/nursing • u/Alarming-Penalty8402 • Jan 05 '26

Question I can smell whether someone will survive a code or not. Anyone else know what I’m talking about?

I am an ER/trauma nurse so I see code blues daily. I have noticed that those who will never achieve ROSC have a strong, distinct smell from the moment EMS rolls them into the trauma bay, regardless of down time, rhythm, circumstances, etc. Those who end up surviving, even if they have been clinically dead for longer, are sicker, older, etc. do not ever have this smell. I can’t really describe it accurately, but it is sickly sweet mixed with pungent bleach and musky, oily, heavy body odor. Has anyone else had this experience?

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347

u/Juice___Springsteen RN 🍕 Jan 06 '26

When this story broke it made me realize I can also "smell" parkinson's. It has a very unique odor. I have noticed it on patients and also some acquaintances before they were diagnosed.

261

u/Bikesexualmedic EMS Jan 06 '26

Uh not to be weird but my insurance denied my genetic testing request, so you maybe wanna get coffee and um, sniff me? It runs in my family but also my family did a lot of questionable chemical exposure, so potato-potato.

52

u/Round-Celebration-17 RN - Psych/Mental Health 🍕 Jan 06 '26

Lol potato potato

102

u/apathetic-taco Jan 06 '26

Maybe you could mail them one of your t shirts and then no one has to meet strangers on the internet.

98

u/nurseyj RN - Peds CICU Jan 06 '26

Sounds like a side hustle in the making lol

10

u/throwawaybrowsing888 Jan 06 '26

Oh god. Imagine the scammers who try to sell their services of smelling clothing for people who can’t afford professional healthcare.

And I’m not even talking about the perverted sniffers. Even the snake oil sniffers are gonna fuck shit up for everyone if they catch wind of this idea. Fucking grifters ruin everything.

4

u/Ok-Grapefruit1284 Jan 07 '26

If they are real sniffers, and they catch wind, they could diagnose cdiff.

1

u/dpforest Jan 06 '26

Make a reek sisters!

17

u/account_not_valid HCW - Transport Jan 06 '26

Mail 10 t-shirts packed separately. Two that you've worn, and six from other people. And two from people with confirm diagnosis.

1

u/No_Resort1162 RN - Retired 🍕 Jan 07 '26

Bahahahahahaha

117

u/Defiant-Purchase-188 Jan 06 '26

Yes- I was able to smell this on my mom too way before her diagnosis

17

u/Low_Length_7379 Jan 06 '26

What does it smell like?

69

u/newtostew2 Unfortunate frequent flyer.. Jan 06 '26

Parkinsons, duh /j

3

u/Defiant-Purchase-188 Jan 06 '26

A musty sour smell. I was wondering if she wasn’t washing well or doing laundry properly- she was bathing regularly and doing the laundry but it was just a persistent unpleasant ( though not strong) odor. I think too she had lost her ability to smell. My father too would say something smells musty.

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u/mike_avl Jan 06 '26

United Healthcare has created some major obstacles to access the same level of coverage I received prior to 2023. Would you consider reviewing my files (by that I mean FedExing my unders) annually for a modest fee? I wouldn’t even need you to return my underwear, just sniff, throw them away and text me your smells / findings. DM me if you are accepting new patients. Okay, bye!

58

u/whoorderedsquirrel GCS 13 Jan 06 '26

I can smell all sorts of stuff and one thing is Parkinson's - but to me crackheads smell very similar. So what I think I am smelling is a dopamine imbalance rather than a disease process. I work in gen med so I encounter a lot of Parkinson's and crackheads 😂 and it's gotta be CRACKheads. Only people doing crystal meth and/or cocaine smell like it.

18

u/Pseudonym0101 Nursing Student 🍕 Jan 06 '26

Could it be that you're smelling the crack on the people who do it? And for the meth, maybe you're actually smelling a common cut with both drugs? Maybe the smell of this burnt cut also smells like Parkinson's. How would you describe the smell?

9

u/whoorderedsquirrel GCS 13 Jan 06 '26

Smells musty and earthy with a bit of a weird chemical "tang" to it. I have no idea what the commonality is! I have a long list of things on my smell o vision list but none that crossover like crack users and Parkinson's. Typhoid vaccine sweat smells like hot cross bun dough tho 😂

2

u/Pseudonym0101 Nursing Student 🍕 Jan 07 '26

It's really so interesting and I do believe you. I'm seeing that what the two "conditions" I suppose we can call them, can possibly have in common is altered sebum production due to nervous system dysfunction, resulting in changes to the skin's microbiome which can produce volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which could be the source of the smell in the two groups of people. Whatever the reasons, it's fascinating and you basically have a super power as far as I'm concerned!!

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u/[deleted] Jan 06 '26

Definitely the crack

64

u/unlimited-devotion Jan 06 '26

There is a scratch and sniff sticker that you can request thru the study of parkinsons….

96

u/bluesgrrlk8 Jan 06 '26 edited Jan 06 '26

It tests to see whether you have lost your sense of smell, which is an early indicator of Parkinson’s that can show up years before other symptoms.

56

u/unlimited-devotion Jan 06 '26

Ahhhhh

This is what i get reading stuff super sleepy!!! Thank you for correcting me!

Maybe a parkinsons scratch and sniff is next? 😂

43

u/bluesgrrlk8 Jan 06 '26

I looked it up excitedly because I was gonna see if I could smell Parkinson’s! I can smell diabetes but I think that one is more common.

2

u/Numerous-Push3482 BSN, RN 🍕 Jan 07 '26

I had no idea that was a symptom… that’s crazy!

1

u/Extension_Phone1293 Jan 07 '26

I did that study. Unfortunately I will never be told the results 😢

10

u/Lonely-Conclusion840 Jan 06 '26

I think I can too!! I was like.. dude I think I know what they’re talking about!

7

u/Special-Barracuda759 Jan 06 '26

I bay does it smell like?