I react poorly to blood donation and have had these used on me, they are incredibly unpleasant. There's no lasting harm, and they do work very well. Basically imagine a chemical burn throughout your nose, sinuses, and upper respiratory system that lasts 30 seconds. It works immediately and gets a very strong reaction
I work in medicine and I have used these on people (and tried it once to see how it was) they're very fucking strong. It's like inhaling cat piss that's on fire.
Can confirm. I also fainted once after donating blood. They used that stuff on me. The tv does get it right this time. It works very quickly, and is similar to getting a big whiff of ammonia. Pungent, sharp, yet kind of the same feeling like when your nose suddenly clears if you have a cold and can breathe again.
Edit: lol, I didn't know they were actual ammonia. Go figure. I'm trying to not light up the room so scrolled past the image at first.
Everywhere I've worked has them however everywhere I worked has high temp work environments where passing out from hest exhaustion happens. They're always in the more expensive first aid kits though which I don't think are required.
In movies and TV it always looked like they cracked something in half. I'm wondering if they've been coming in a little pouch now for a long time but that cracking-in-half type is now movie shorthand for smelling salts so they keep doing it.
Glass ampoules definitely still exist for smelling salts and similar. Honestly I assumed it was because they'd eat through most other viable packaging, now I dunno. But they definitely still exist. My roommate has some.
Sounds like orthostatic hypotension causing vasovagal syncope. She should wear compression socks and drink plenty of water. There are ways of mitigating and managing episodes. It's relatively common on planes.
I see some of them on Amazon and it looks like they're okay with TSA too, question though. If ( and I'm assuming this is an anxiety, not medical issue) your girlfriend is unconscious, would she possibly prefer to just remain unconscious rather than feel anxious about the flight? Or does she not like the fainting part either, i wouldn't know as I've never fainted so maybe it's unpleasant
If it's vasovagal syncope it's probably unpleasant. Can cause sweating, confusion, and a bunch of other problems because your brain isn't getting enough blood to function.
in older medicine cabinets in addition to smelling salts you can also find small glass ampules of ammonia that work similarly. You had to break the glass tip off the capsule and that lets the stank out. They reeeeek!