Medical Doctor: Difference between revisions

As a Medical Doctor, your primary function is to heal the injured and save them from the brink of death. If this fails, you are expected to drag those that perish into [[Cloning]] to be reborn (or utilize another method of resurrection). You have a powerful tool at your disposal that can diagnose injuries and diseases in the form of a [[Health Analyzer]], conveniently located in all medical kits, including the one you have at round start. You can even use your PDA to scan for injuries by engaging the Health Scanner function of it, thanks to the MED-U cartridge inside it.

Utilizing the Health Analyzer will give you a readout of all the ailments a patient is suffering from, and a quick overview of all the damage types and simple treatments is found below. To facilitate conservation of consumable supplies in treatment, it is recommended to bring the patient into Medical and put them in a [[sleeper|Sleeper Pod]], which you can then use to inject them with a limitless amount of five basic healing chemicals, only requiring power to do so. Be aware that Sleepers, much like every other piece of technology on the station, can be upgraded by the [[Science]] department to have a larger array of more powerful healing chemicals to administer, as is detailed on the Sleepers page.

Regardless of if an implement is as sharp as a kitchen knife, or as puncturing as a bullet, the damage it will cause is classified as ''Brute Damage''. Due to this wide range of applying forces, Brute Damage is inevitably the most common form of damage, and proper treatment thereof is crucial. A patient suffering from enough Brute Damage will visually have large bloody red streaks on their body or massive purple-red bruises, and an examination will confirm this. Brute damage is often treated by [[Guide_to_chemistry#Libital|Libital]] injections through the Sleeper Pods, or through the application of [[Guide_to_chemistry#Styptic_Powder|Styptic Powder]] and other advanced medicines to the afflicted areas, which is made in [[Chemistry_Lab|Chemistry]], which is attached to the Medical lobby. Your starter First Aid Kit also has a pile of sutures inside it, which can be applied to injured areas to heal their Brute Damage with short delay.

Brute damage can also cause bleeding, which is covered in the [[Guide_to_medicine#Treating_Bleeding|guide to medicine]] more extensively. To put it concisely, if a patient has brute damage, first diagnose if they are bleeding, as that will cause more complications if it continues unabated. If they are bleeding, wrap the wound in gauze (located in your First Aid Kit) to give yourself time to treat the damage causing it, while taking note of their blood levels. More often than not, a patient will be able to recover their lost blood over time (a healthy diet will speed this process up). Still, if the Health Analyzer reports a '''LOW''' or '''CRITICAL''' blood level, or the patient says that they are feeling lightheaded or look pale, they will need a [[Guide_to_medicine#Treating_Bleeding|blood transfusion]]. If attempting a transfusion, be sure to give the patient the correct type of replacement blood, or you may end up harming them further - the Health Analyzer will provide a blood type readout, as will the patient's medical record file.

The second most common type of damage is ''Burn Damage''. This is caused by a multitude of sources, from fire and inhospitably high (or low) temperatures to laser blasts to standing in space unprotected. Burn Damage visually manifests as grey streaks on a person's body, which can be hard to see on more thoroughly dressed up individuals. Burn damage is often treated by [[Guide_to_chemistry#Aiuri|Aiuri]] injections through the Sleeper Pods, or the application of [[Guide_to_chemistry#Silver_Sulfadiazine|Silver Sulfadiazine]] and other advanced medicines. Your starter First Aid Kit also has two packages of regenerative mesh inside it, which can be applied to injured areas to heal their Burn Damage with a short delay.

Regardless of how the damage is accrued, it is dangerous in that it has no visual tell. Individuals suffering from poisoning will appear just the same as anyone else, aside from their decaying health and potential fits of vomiting. Toxin Damage is also marginally more involved to treat than Brute and Burn, as the Sleeper Pods have no way to treat it (until upgraded by Science). As such, these cases will necessitate a trip into [[Medical_Doctor#Medical_Storage|Medical Storage]] to grab a Toxins Treatment Kit, which will contain [[Guide_to_chemistry#Charcoal|Charcoal]] syringes and pills; differing ways to administer the same treatment.

Not directly used for healing, but indispensable for advanced treatment. When laid on a stasis bed, a patient is stunned and stops having ''life ticks''. In the simplest terms, this means that all their life functions, metabolism (including reagents and oxygen usage), breathing, disease progression, organ decay, bleeding and catastrophic combustion reactions with oxygen in the air, are put on pause.

*If science happens to gain illegal tech research, you can print syringe guns at the departmental lathe. Fill a bluespace syringe up with [[Chloral Hydrate]], [[Mute Toxin]] and [[Morphine]] to sedate someone.