Vomit

Step 1: Bucket!

If a rider indicates they need to vomit, hand them the vomit bucket with a clean bag from inside the front Blue Bin.

You do not want to delay if a rider indicates they need to vomit, so it is important to keep the bucket clean of any trash.

If the rider does wind up vomiting, pull over to a safe location while the vomiting is occurring.

Step 2: Assess

If the rider is continuously vomiting or showing other signs of alcohol poisoning, you need to assess them via the Alcohol procedure.  

Return to this page once you have a break in the alcohol response procedure and move on to Step 3.

If the rider does not need medical attention, move on to Step 3.

Step 3: In Bucket Vomit

If a rider vomits inside the bucket, and does not need medical attention, you can resume the ride. If they miss the bucket, move on to Step 4.

Upon arriving at the drop off location, the rider will take the bag of vomit with them.

Before taking the bucket back, put on a pair of gloves! You do not want to accidentally touch vomit.

After taking the bucket back, with gloves on, you need to disinfect the bucket.

Do this by spraying the bucket with the disinfectant spray.  Use a Lysol wipe to clean inside and outside the bucket. Use a trash bag to store used wipes and gloves until a proper trash receptacle can be identified.

After the bucket is clean, place a new trash bag inside, place bucket back inside the Blue Bin, and continue with your itinerary.

Step 4: Not in Bucket Vomit

If a rider does not vomit inside the bucket or misses in any way, pull over to the nearest safe location and have all riders exit the vehicle.

Have the driver or navigator gather cleaning supplies and go to Step 6, while the other goes to Step 5.

Step 5: Plan

Do other riders want to wait for the vehicle to be cleaned?

• If yes, have them wait.

• For riders who do not want to wait, radio to the Nightly Operations Leader to coordinate an alternate plan for their ride.

If you have other rides in your itinerary, again, radio to coordinate with the Nightly Operations Leader to redistribute your rides to other vehicles and turn off your Auto Assign.

If any riders are going to be picked up by another vehicle, do not leave until they are picked up!

Yes, that means even if you get done cleaning early, you should not leave the rider(s) alone.

Step 6: Clean

   Put on gloves! Vomit is a bio-hazardous bodily fluid so you should not touch anything without gloves on.

   Go to the Blue Bin at the back of the vehicle and get the vomit flakes. Sprinkle a generous amount of vomit flakes onto the vomit.

   Once the flakes have absorbed any liquid, you can use the dustpan and brush to sweep up the flakes or the paper towels into a     trash bag from the front Blue Bin.

   After the flakes have been picked up, spray disinfectant on the area, then wipe with a Lysol wipe, and then wipe dry with a             paper towel. 

   Do this 2 times, or more if the smell has not gone away!

   Place all used items into a trash bag and tie it off. Store in vehicle until a proper trash receptacle can be identified.

Step 7: Do we continue Service?

Before writing the IR (Step 8), you need to determine if we can continue service. Ultimately, it depends on if everything is cleaned up and there is no lingering smell of vomit in the vehicle. 

If there is no smell and things are clean, then start service again. 

If there is still a smell or you could not get all the vomit cleaned up, radio to the Nightly Operation Leader to strategize what to do next.

Step 8: Incident Report

The last step is either the Driver or the Navigator needs to complete an incident report form. The link is below.

If there are so many details that it would be difficult to write the report on the iPad, report back to the SafeRide office to write the IR on the computer.

After you are done, radio the Nightly Operations Leader to get your auto assign turned back on.