Lazarae

Pretty sure it has to be a specific grade of silver to have antibiotic properties. And this seems to be specificly for silver-impregnated fabric dressings? Not to mention the risk of argyria (warning for the images) with repeated use which makes you strongly resemble a zombie and forces you to avoid the sun. And there's the fact it screws with other antibiotics over time, reducing absorption. Some people are allergic as well. Silver-impregnated fabric dressings might avoid some of these issues (they're approved by the FDA; colloidal silver is not) but if you're using it in the same capacity as penicillin then you're going with colloidal silver, which is largely quackery. (It does work as an antibiotic, but the risks- argyria and allergies mostly- outweigh its usefulness especially in the face of modern antibiotics, which is why it's fallen out of favor. Of course, there are crazies who claim it'll cure/prevent cancer and AIDS/HIV and a number of other things, but that's entirely unproven.) I did research on colloidal silver just recently so it's kinda fresh in my head.

Good to hear a higher medical skill lets you know when a wound's done healing- I've only got 2 in it so I'm not quite there yet. (Time to go smash more windows!) I am linefacing about disinfecting though. I'd much rather mess up because I missed a cue than because I lost track, especially when there's a lot to be disinfecting and you have twitchy hands (a few times I've meant to clean one arm but clicked the other, for instance, but then bandaged the arm I meant to and re-disinfected before bandaging the one I didn't, so one didn't get cleaned and the other got cleaned twice). I don't mind the option not being removed so you can still double-clean, but something that lasts even a few seconds is better than staring at the menu going "wait which one did I just do?" If you're giving first aid you know if you just cleaned someone's right or left arm, or their knee even if you barely know what you're doing- but if you get distracted or interrupted then you might forget. But I get why it is the way it is. (I'm more annoyed that my hands keep making me waste disinfectant. Perils of the apocalypse I suppose.) I was also surprised cleaning bandages only took water. I figured it would at least take soap. It would make keeping clean bandages on hand harder; you'd have to stock up on soap as well. Also I don't think I've gotten an infection yet, but it would be cool to see a particularly bad one sharing some traits with illness (the one from bad food or zombification, not a cold). I haven't been hindered much by pain even in agony, but the despair of running out of clean supplies and getting an infected wound, not knowing if your deteriorating health is because of the wound or if you've got the zombie. People arguing over whether or not to keep treating someone who's sick because it might be just an infection or they might be about to turn. You'd really need an experienced medic who can tell if a wound's infected or not to tell the difference, or in SP you'd need to build your skill so you'll know if it's survivable or if you should abandon all hope. If you can't tell, I love the new system. I was nerding out about it to my dad, about how I actually have to worry now when I'm injured. Before if I got scratched all I really had to was slap a ripped sheet on it and hope I didn't get the zombie. And I have to think when looting now; if none of the windows work I have to weigh the noise made from breaking the door against the potential injury of shattering a window. Looting garages (the type with only windows accessible) I have to think about the risk vs reward. Really adds more dimension. And despair! Nothing like getting glass shards stuck in when you don't have your kit and you have to run home, trailing blood and losing health. Or ducking into a bathroom in a house full of zombies to treat something only to discover it doesn't have a cabinet and thus, no supplies. (The erosion system is nice too, of course. I actually had to stop and stare when I first went out into the woods- it's the first time I've ever considered a zombie game honestly pretty (and not in an 'excellently done graphics' way but more the brief awe of a good view) but all the reds and oranges and yellows of the trees... it's such an excellent contrast to the horrors of the city and its cracked roads and bloodstains. There is beauty, even here.)

I really like the estimated healing time remaining suggestion. As well as some indication that you had already disinfected a wound. Its easy to remember if you disinfected the single wound but when a player is heavily wounded it can become unwieldy. EDIT: Maybe the wound can look dirty on the health panel and clean after you disinfect? Might be a bit more immersive than a text indication. I do like the visual idea better than just text. And you'd have to learn to pay attention to the image as well- if you're careful and thorough you're more likely to do everything right where if you're panicked or in a hurry it becomes easy to miss a few injuries. It's a more natural oops than not maintaining the list of disinfected injuries in your head. Addendum to my magically re-stitching wound: it did it again! I took off the dirty bandage off the scratch this morning to find a nicely sutured wound. (Did bleeding always make you track visible blood or is that new? It's been a while since I've had a bleeding wound until I started intentionally injuring myself, so I could have just not noticed it before. The floor of my first safehouse is very, very red. I can see bloodstained doctors' 'offices'/medics' in multiplayer. Do wish there was a way to clean it up though. It's unsanitary.)

Came out of lurkdom to opt in last night, spent most of today playing with the new medical system- I made a new save entirely devoted to finding new and interesting ways to injure myself. (Ironically it's actually one of the farthest lasting saves I've had, since I need to build up to survive having a useless limb long enough to figure out timing.) Thinky thoughts: it doesn't tell you if you've already disinfected a wound. No text with the wound saying it's been cleaned, and the option to disinfect the same wound stays. If you're not paying attention and/or heavily wounded you can easily disinfect the same wound more than once, wasting supplies. I do and don't like not knowing if I'm done treating a wound- scratches were easy enough to figure out, but sutures and splints not so much. It makes sense for someone not well versed in field medicine/first aid... I haven't maxed my first-aid skill yet but from what I've heard it doesn't make guessing healing time any easier. Even a vague indicator for the higher level skills would be nice... something like (healing) and (probably healed), with the second having a chance of stopping too soon and potentially re-injuring yourself. (I also like the idea of partially-healed wounds. Just because you've taken the splint off doesn't mean you can go back to running and climbing. These aren't really suggestions or anything, I just have to stream-of-consciousness things or I end up getting stuck on phrasing. Anxiety is fun!) Speaking of treatment time and partially healed wounds... I had an interesting thing where I'd sutured a deep wound about a week ago (for the second time. Turns out the heal time is NOT the same as for scratches! I kinda figured that, but I clicked the wrong thing and ended up bleeding all over my base trying to find my suture needle) and decided it was time to see if it was done healing. So I took the sutures out (this time with needle handy, just in case) and found it had become just a scratch. Ok cool, I said to myself, and disinfected and wrapped it. By the next day it had bled through, so I took of the bandage to find... a sutured wound! I actually had to check my notes and make sure I'd actually removed the sutures the day before. Removing the sutures once again gave me another scratched wound, which I have treated as usual. Not enough time has passed to see if it resets to being sutured again. (I realize I could have said 'stitched' at any point there but 'suture' is such a great word.) Also I really wish there was a way for me to get shot in single player. (Never thought I'd type that.) I wanna play with bullet wounds!