The Rules Survivor Players With Medical And Sanitary Needs Must Follow

When new Survivor fans who are figuring out which seasons to watch first begin watching Jeff Probst's popular reality show, they have a lot of questions. Those new fans want to know things like which seasons are the best, who are the show's best players ever, and which Sole Survivors get the most respect. Over time, those same fans will start to wonder about things like who the first player to be medically evacuated was and what the show's rules are.

Some Survivor fans know the show has some gross rules and that players have been accused of breaking the rules. However, the majority of Survivor's most passionate fans don't know what the rules are about the players' medical and sanitary needs.

What Rules Do Survivor Players Who Require Medicine Have To Follow?

When fans watch Survivor, it seems like the players are abandoned with only a handful of items that they can use. However, the reality of the situation is that players have access to more than most viewers may realize.

What happened to John Cochran during Survivor: Caramoan proves that point. During his first season, John memorably got a horrible sunburn early on that could be seen on the outskirts of his face and when he took his shirt off. The reason why that is so memorable is that Survivor sunburns almost never happen because players are given access to sunscreen.

Similarly, there are some Survivor players who need to take medication for one reason or another who are allowed to. With that in mind, it is fascinating to look at the rules that the players who require medicine need to follow.

In May 2014, Self published an article about how Survivor players' medical needs are handled.

Every Survivor Player Who Has Been Medically Evacuated, According to Us Weekly

• Michael Skupin
• Bruce Kanegai
• Jonathan Penner
• James Clement
• Joe Dowdle
• Mike Borassi
• Russell Swan
• Kourtney Moon
• Colton Cumbie
• Shamar Thomas
• Erik Reichenbach
• Caleb Reynolds
• Neal Gottlieb
• Joe del Campo
• Pat Cusack
• Jackson Fox
• Bruce Perreault
• Randen Montalvo

That article revealed how Survivor players who require medicine gain access to it during the game.

For their article, Self spoke to the Survivor Hall of Famer, Benjamin "Coach" Wade who told them about how he took medication while playing Survivor.

In September 2023, People published an article about Survivor rules that fans don't know about. That article revealed one of the most important ways that Survivor players are kept safe. Before the game begins, all players have to go through "Survivor school" where "experienced producers" teach them basic facts about how to remain safe.

While talking to Self, Coach revealed that players are allowed to keep a personal medical box during the game that contains things like sunscreen. Survivor players who are allowed to take medicine during the game have it stashed in those medical boxes that stay at camp. However, Coach revealed that things aren't as simple as that may make them seem.

While talking to Self, Coach revealed that players who require medicine have to get approval from the show's producers. “[Production] checks it out, and you turn it in beforehand.”

When Benjamin "Coach" Wade talked to Self for the aforementioned article, he revealed how Survivor players take care of their teeth during the game. “You take a palm frond, the stem of it or the leaf, and you just get a little thin sliver, and you poke it between your teeth. It’s kind of like floss.... I personally chomped on softer pieces of bamboo to create a little ‘brush’ out of the stem and used that to scrub my teeth... A lot of us used our fingernails."

Coach went on to explain that what medicines get approved and which don't can be very hard to predict. A three-time Survivor player, Coach revealed that he had a kind of medicine approved twice and then denied the third time.

I had a prescription for allergies, and for some reason, they didn’t let it in the game [the third time]—the first two times, they did.

Coach also told Self about the kinds of medication he believed wouldn't be approved to take during the game. “They won’t let Ambien or anything like that in there. Or probably Xanax—that’s a big no-no.”

There are some notable examples of Survivor players whose time on the show were ruined because they didn't have access to medication. Survivor 42's Jackson Fox is one example of that.

Prior to competing on Survivor, Jackson took lithium for roughly three years to help him sleep. Recognizing that he couldn't take that in the game, but still wanting to play, Jackson decided to wean himself off the medication. When Jackson began suffering from dizziness and dehydration, which could be side effects from going off the medication, the decision was made to pull him from the game. In March 2022, Jackson told Entertainment Weekly how devastating that was for him.

“I've been here three days and I'm crying, but you worked so hard to do this and we went through quarantine and it's every emotion. You're angry at yourself for not taking the right precautions. You're sad about leaving. You're not mad at Jeff. You're just mad at the situation.”

The Survivor Hall of Famer Jonny Fairplay told Reality TV World in February 2008 that not being allowed to take a pain reliever during Survivor: Micronesia ruined his game. Mere days before he left to play Survivor a second time, Jonny underwent 15 hours of dental surgery and four root canals after Danny Bonaduce dropped him on his face. Then, Jonny smashed his face into the side of a boat during a challenge that made the agony he was in worse. Still, Johnny told Reality TV World that he wasn't allowed to take a pain reliever despite "three doctors’ notes saying that [he needed] it." Jonny also summed up how much pain he was in during his Reality TV World interview.

Just excruciating pain.

During Survivor: Micronesia, Jonny memorably asked his tribemates to vote him out. Since then, Jonny has clarified that the amount of pain was the main reason he asked to be voted out.

Rules Female Survivor Players With Sanitary Needs Follow

Of course, female Survivor players who have their period have requirements. As a part of the aforementioned Self article, the outlet revealed how Survivor players who are having their period handle that situation.

For their article, Self spoke to Jess Chong from Survivor 46 who told them how hard it was that she had her period on the first day of the game.

I got my period on my first day! It was awful.

Jess went on to tell the outlet that it was difficult to figure out how to wash her clothes on camera when she was having her period.

Self's article went on to reveal that Survivor's producers do not provide players with sanitary products they can use while having their periods. However, women are allowed to bring their own sanitary products for their period, and they are left in their medical boxes.

Jess told Self that women are allowed to bring whatever products they want to deal with their periods. “Those of us who menstruate get to pack whatever we want."