Jump to content

First Aid Suggestions


Hammerit

Recommended Posts

Some things I figure might be neat to change about the First Aid system:

 

1. Stitching and doing similar complicated first aid actions with no first aid skill should have a chance to fail, cause damage from blood loss or have a chance of worsening the condition. Failing however should still reward some EP so it's not a complete loss.

 

Why? Well in RL if a derp decides to remove a bullet from someones leg it's very likely he'll end up killing the patient by accident (eg. nicking a major artery, causing major trauma or an embolism, etc.).

 

2. Stitching with a needle turns the needle into a "dirty" needle that can causes sickness if used again (maybe 25% probability?). A dirty needle can then be sterilized the same way the player can sterilize ripped sheets. Needles found as random loot should be spawned as their dirty versions except for suture needles of cause. Could be easily done by adding a sterilized needle that works without risks and changing the regular needle already in the game to have an infection / sickness chance.

 

Why? Would you use a needle you found in a closet under a pile of rotten rat corpses without cleaning it up first to patch yourself up in RL? Didn't think so!

 

3. Using a suture needle should turn it into a dirty needle instead of making it disappear.

 

Why? Why would survivors with limited needle supply care for professional health regulations and throw away perfectly reusable needles? :v

 

4. Do 2. for tweezers and other first aid tools as well.

 

Why? Makes sense.

 

5. Allow additional means of "patching" deep wounds if the player can't stitch them right away. Eg with duct tape, scoth tape, paper clips, wire, glue etc.

 

Why? That's what people did before modern medicine took all of the excitement out of playing doctor :P

 

6. Add a random percentage to ripping stitches if the player overexerts himself after being stitched up. Eg. if he has a stitch on his upper arm and continues to go about his lumber jack ways the stitch should rip and reopen the wound after a while.

 

Why? Doctor's orders dammit!

 

7. Add First Aid Skill Books to make leveling the skill easier.

 

Why? Coupled with 1. that's really a no brainer. Counter question: Ever seen a doctor's office without numerous books about all kinds of crazy treatment procedures? No, shrinks don't count!

 

8. Stiches on deep wounds and similar serious stuff should cause pain the first day or two.

 

Why? Ever had an operation that didn't require painkillers to survive the next few days? Yeah didn't think so.

 

9. Not sure about this but since broken windows can inflict scratches they hopefully can't cause Zombification.

 

Why? Taking out a legion of zombies and being turned from climbing through a window would suck so hard it'd almost blow.

 

10. Add random blood types to characters and matching blood packs and some sort of transfusion tool useable with a needle to refill tem. Also add a new moodle for blood loss that decreases with blood loss and slowly increases over time or instantly with the right transfusion. The worse the moodle the quicker the player overexerts and tires up to the point where it outright kills him. The bleeding moodle could then dictate the rate at which the blood loss moodle worsens. Using an incompatible transfusion should have course severely sicken the player.

 

Why? There's only so much blood you can lose before you go pining for the fjords.

 

11. Increase the failure rate of all first aid actions with every moodle level of pain and fear.

 

Why? It's usually quite hard to concentrate and steady your hands when you're in pain or scared shitless. Especially when trying to operate on yours truly.

 

12. Add a Sandbox option to start infected with Zombification (in the stage right after the initial bite/scratch and before the symptoms start showing).

 

Why? I found it's a real challenge surviving for as long as possible after having been infected ;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

These are all pretty interesting possible additions, but I'd also add the ability to cauterize wounds (burn the skin or flesh of a wound with a heated instrument or caustic substance, typically to stop bleeding or prevent the wound from becoming infected).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

These are all pretty interesting possible additions, but I'd also add the ability to cauterize wounds (burn the skin or flesh of a wound with a heated instrument or caustic substance, typically to stop bleeding or prevent the wound from becoming infected).

 

Didn't even think about that one. But it would make sense. Mainly for scratches and such or in case you could had to amputate at some point (eg. to make sure not to get infected after a bite). However I figure it might be a bit overpowered since it's kind of a one-shot solution to all problems the wound would normally cause. Especially considering it's typically much easier to find materials to start a fire than it is to find stuff to sterilize stuff with.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well in RL it kinda depends on how the cauterization is performed and especially on what kind of a wound. If it's performed on a disinfected wound site of a very limited scope and somewhat reasonable tools are used the initial risk of infection is pretty minimal. However since the cauterization itself causes severe tissue damage resulting in lots of damaged and or necrotic tissue around the burn mark it also provides a perfectly good opportunity for future infections to set. But this can usually be avoided by properly cleaning the burnt area afterwards and removing the necrotic tissue as soon as possible.

 

If for example you cauterized a not too deep scratch it wouldn't be too much of a deal however you do it. Everything bigger can turn real ugly real soon in an uncontrolled environment though. Especially if you consider the very high possibility of passing out from pain in the middle of the procedure in case you tried performing it on yourself.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...