What to do if you vomited outdoors or in a public space?

[UniCred1]

Today our boss treated us to some doughnuts and hot chocolate drinks with cream during morning break. Now I must confess that I didn’t have a hot drink with cream for years and years as I’d end up with diarrhoea almost immediately due to gastric issues.

Today however I was so hungry and got tempted so I thought that I should be fine as it wasn’t a humongous cup. I had it at 11:30 and by 12 I started to feel bad so I went outside to get some fresh air. Just to give you an idea about the location, it’s an industrial area with factories and offices only and most people spend their working day inside, especially in this cold. Anyway, I carried on walking outside and after a minute I vomited everything I had that morning. I was beside the road at this stage and no one was around. I felt a great sense of relief and went back to work. My colleague was having a third doughnut in a row and I thought I’d just warn her that they’re so sugary that I threw up. The conversation went along and she asked me “so how did you clean it up?” I said “nothing I just left it and came back and washed my face in the toilet” she looked so perplexed and said that people should always clean up after themselves. But how??
I also remember when my toddler got dizzy in the park (violent swinging with his brother!!!) and he threw up in the playground. People were looking at me as if it is my fault and I was so so embarrassed, but I really didn’t know what to do?? Obviously if it happened indoors and I have access to water, cleaning wipes and sprays I’ll clean it, of course I will! However It’s outdoors. What’s the done thing in this case? What’s the correct etiquette please?

I never really thought in to this but yes I agree with you on what are you to do! If you are outside surely if you have nothing with you you would have to just leave it there???? Of course I would scrub a place indoors as there are likely to be cleaning supplies I can use but sure what would be outside!

I would pour some water on it. If it’s outside your office surely you could have grabbed a bucket of water.

No idea what the correct etiquette is.
If I wasn’t able to reach a suitable place (so in your scenario I might try to be sick on grass/by a hedge rather than right near a building) I’d consider if sloshing a bucket of water over the area (if practical) might be an option.
otherwise I’d assume it was just very unfortunate and the rain will eventually wash it away.
I’d also take it as a sign that creamy hot chocolate drinks really didn’t suit me

I went home early with food poisoning one day. Had dry heaves at work, nothing happened, thought I was OK to drive.

Became suddenly and massively apparent that this was a mistake when stuck in traffic.

Stuck my hazards on, got out and threw up behind a handy tree. By some bizarre instinct, rubbed my belly as if to indicate I was pregnant to the van driver behind me who was covering a laugh. Got back in, thanked my stars the traffic hadn't moved, and went home.

If you're unlucky enough to throw up in public, you're free to go, IMO.

Can you buy a couple litre bottles of water and wash it away?
It won’t be there long anyway before our winter weather breaks it down and takes it away.

Is there some dirt from a flower border you can chuck across it?

I really wouldn’t worry unless it’s right on a footpath but even then, who, in city doorways has not seen vomit from Friday & Saturday night/early hours escapades. People will see it & avoid it. Don’t worry.

In your case I probably would have gone back to the office and filled a bucket with water and wash it away tbh.

I would of kept quiet, rainfall would (eventually) wash it away 😉

Crikey what a thread 😂

Oh this never occurred to me .How would you clean it up ? Surely the rain will do the job . I guess if you had water you could rinse it away a bit . The only time I remember throwing up outside was out the window of an Uber in my much younger days 😆

Last time i puked on the street was when i was 10 weeks preg with morning sickness and the nausea came on suddenly while i was driving, so id pulled over and just made it to rhe kerb.

I had a bottle of water in the boot and tried to rinse it off but it was only a small bottle of water so wasn't very effective but i tried.
If you didnt have any water there's nothing you can do, you'll just have to leave it and wait for the rain to wash ot away.....

@thecatsthecats 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

I agree with pp , if it's practical chuck a bucket / bottle of water over it but if not I font think there is much you can or would be expected to do .

When I had morning sickness I’d sometimes vomit randomly during the day. There’s nothing you can do except try to vomit discreetly into a plantpot or behind a bush etc and then walk away. Your colleague sounds unsympathetic.

Ah, fond memories 🫤 the worst bit wasnt’t the vomiting it was the disgusted looks from passers by who clearly thought I was drunk.

Anyway I don’t know why a hot drink with cream made you vomit, sounds like you have a food intolerance that you should keep an eye on.

If I had a bottle of water I’d probably try and dilute it a bit with that then wait for nature to do it’s course.
If it was right outside a building I’d maybe let them know so they could sort it but in an industrial estate I’d leave it

Round here it's usually left on the pavement. Occasionally it'll be cleaned up by a dog with an inatentive owner or a seagull.
It's organic, not as bad a dog crap and it goes away eventually.

Wheres this bucket at?

I once vomited whilst picking up a particularly gross dog poo. There was a pile of wood chip nearby so I put a load of that on top of the sick

If it was near my workplace like you were (and I felt well enough) I would have gone and gotten a bottle of water or washing up bowl and at least made the effort to attempt to wash it away. If you dont have anything to hand at all or feel very poorly afterwards then you leave it and get home asap. Dd once threw up right outside the cinema and we just had to leave it and go.

Why did you go outside though and not straight to the bathroom especially if last time you got diarrhoea instead?

This happened to me a few times when pregnant, embarrassingly twice on a tube platform. Both times we’d been stopped in the tunnel for a long time and I started feeling a bit claustrophobic and hot and nauseous. Luckily people were just so lovely and helped me and I felt beyond awful for the lovely men who were dispatched to clear up.

Not so lovely was the time my dog had diarrhoea on the pavement in the middle of town. Had to go in to a local estate agent and ask for a bucket of water and bleach while they looked at me at disgust and horror.

The rain will wash it away doesnt work in Norfolk where we dont get rain for months at a time (not that youd know that this month). The seagulls on the otherhand hoover it up pretty quickly.

I had severe hyperemesis for all pregnancies. Work was a 15 minute walk. I was vomiting at least 3/4 times on the way...

99% of the Time cleaning it up wasn't an option. Thankfully my stomach was mostlyempty anyway so it was an attempt to discreetly vomit into bushes en route

I always try to aim for a hedge if I can (not that it happens often).
Thinking about it I think it's only happened twice in my lifetime that I've thrown up outside. Both times were when I got car sick as a teenager and had to ask the driver to stop so I could throw up at the side of the road.

I imagine it's worse if it happens in the middle of a public outdoor place.
It's not something I have thought about, but not sure what I would do.

Had food poisoning once which kicked in as we left a restaurant later that evening - I had to crouch over a drain near the kerb! Fortunately H had a bottle of water in the car which wasn't far away so washed it away as much as possible. There really wasn't any alternative.

I got food poisoning from a chicken salad I'd bought to have at DC's sports day/picnic a few years ago. I thought it tasted weird as I was eating it but decided I was imagining it. I slowly started to feel worse and worse as the afternoon went on and couldn't get out of there fast enough. We lived just a couple of streets away from the school and I thought I'd make it home but I only got halfway before I realised I couldn't stop it.

Somehow despite looking like that scene from The Exorcist, I managed to mostly throw up into a drain on the edge of the road. I never once thought about going back to clean any of it up, you see worse in the streets after a Saturday night tbh and I was more concerned about getting back home with DC (who has major anxiety about sickness so was crying loudly about it). I'm just glad no-one else was near us so I wasn't seen.

I ended up so ill from that fucking salad that DH had to take time off work to look after me and both DC as I was totally bedridden for days from it.

Well for a start I’d not have uttered a word to anyone (especially the colleague on her third one 🤔).