Ocean Man
Active member
Preface:
In my opinion, medical roleplay is such an interesting dynamic of HL2RP that's often not utilized to its full potential. There are a few reasons for this, as outlined by the following guide, but the overarching theme seems to be that the area often seems niche until there's a trauma case to operate on. This guide will attempt to educate both non-medical and CMRU people to diversify Medical RP in order to make it enjoyable for both patient and CMRU characters.
Common Medical RP concerns:
"I don’t know much about medical RP" - This is both a barrier for patient RP as well as induction into the faction, whilst having some knowledge of the condition you're either presenting with or treating is recommended, this isn't real clinical practice and there isn't an expectation to know a great deal on either side. For CMRU workers, a lot of the RP education and learning happens whilst roleplay.
"I don’t want my character to be PK’d or have debilitating injuries" - A totally valid point, players who engage in Medical RP may often feel they risk losing their character or will be forced into some disability for the rest of their characters' existence. This is not the case in most scenarios as due to being player-led roleplay, those on the brink of death often make a full recovery. However, freedom should be balanced with logic and those who undergo massive surgery should incorporate recovery into their RP somewhat.
"Medical RP can take a long time, I don’t want to sit around for hours." - Engagement from both sides is important to consider, whilst in best practice we will attempt to include our patients in the roleplay, there is also the option to "Fade to black" if longer procedures, such as surgeries, take too long.
"I don’t want my character to be PK’d or have debilitating injuries" - A totally valid point, players who engage in Medical RP may often feel they risk losing their character or will be forced into some disability for the rest of their characters' existence. This is not the case in most scenarios as due to being player-led roleplay, those on the brink of death often make a full recovery. However, freedom should be balanced with logic and those who undergo massive surgery should incorporate recovery into their RP somewhat.
"Medical RP can take a long time, I don’t want to sit around for hours." - Engagement from both sides is important to consider, whilst in best practice we will attempt to include our patients in the roleplay, there is also the option to "Fade to black" if longer procedures, such as surgeries, take too long.
Repetitiveness, Burnout and Lack of Variety:
From my own experience, 90% of all roleplay interactions as CMRU tend to be wounds from stabbings, Xenian creatures and the occasional major surgery for a citizen lurking in the wrong side of the slums. Whilst this can provide some interesting moments, you can only patch up the same leg wound a few hundred times before it becomes monotonous, boring and routine. I believe this to be one of the deterrents for both patient and CMRU roleplay, and to fix this I propose this guide to inform all on the different conditions commonly seen in real life clinical practice, particularly in Emergency Medicine (from my own experience). This guide will cover the basics, but I recommend that you research signs and symptoms of these before you engage in RP.
So, without further rambling, here are the most common conditions in practice, an explanation of what they are, and their treatments.
So, without further rambling, here are the most common conditions in practice, an explanation of what they are, and their treatments.
Acute (Sudden onset) and Emergency Conditions
| Condition | Brief Explanation | Treatment |
|---|---|---|
| Acute Radiation Syndrome (Radiation Poisoning) | Caused by exposure to harmful radiation (particularly low wave-length EM radiation) which damages Cell DNA. Symptoms: Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, confusion, hair loss, internal bleeding, skin damage. | Decontamination (removal of irradiated items such as clothes and washing), Administration of Potassium Iodide. |
| Anaphylaxis | An exaggerated immune response to an allergy, can result in closing of the airway (from inflammation) which can be stop breathing. Symptoms: Chest tightness, problems breathing, vomiting, abdominal pain. | Adrenaline (for controlling initial inflammation) and IV fluids. |
| Asthma (Flareup) | A chronic condition that causes overproduction of phlegm (secretions) which cause airway blockage, often brought on by exercise. Symptoms: Breathlessness, coughing, bringing up lots of secretions. | Medication known as "Bronchodillators" that open up the airway. |
| Cardiac Arrest | The heart stops beating, so organs are starved of oxygen and start to die. Symptoms: No pulse, unresponsive. | Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) followed by defibrillation and oxygen therapy. |
| Choking | A foreign object (usually food) has blocked the oesophagus and the patient can't breath. Symptoms: Clutching at throat, gagging, pale appearance. | Back slaps and abdominal thrusts, oesophageal suctioning if prolonged. |
| Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (Flareup) | A condition that causes more ineffective breathing overtime, usually caused by smoking damage to lungs. Flareups in struggling to breath are usually caused by chest infections. Symptoms: Rapid and shallow breathing, producing lots of secretions, fatigue, blood in cough, wheezing. | Medication known as "Bronchodillators" that open up the airway, oxygen is also given. |
| Heart Attack | A blockage, usually caused by a blood clot, has traveled to the heart valve and stopped blood flow causing poor circulation. Symptoms: Sharp pain in chest and left arm, chest tightness, low or high blood presure, signs of acute heart failure. | Initially blood thinners such as Aspirin, then either breaking down the clot (thrombolysis) or surgery to implant a stent. |
| Hypoglycemia | Low blood sugar, often a complication of Diabetes. Causes cells to not receive required energy. Considered a medical emergency. Symptoms: Sweating, heart palpitations, fatigue, confusion and eventually coma. | Administered glucose (sugar) by either eating or IV (depending on if patient is comatose). |
| Major Trauma | Significant structural damage to the body including extensive blood loss, broken bones, burns and injured organs. Symptoms: Catastrophic Hemorrhage, one or more organs shut down. | Major, often complex surgery with IV bloods, fluids and medications given. Escalation to intensive care. |
| Pulmonary Embolism | A blood clot in the lungs blocking (occluding) effective respiration (gas exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide). 'PE' can cause lung damage or the clot can travel towards the heart and cause a heart attack. Symptoms: Chest pain, coughing blood, dizziness or fainting. | Initially blood thinners such as Aspirin, then either breaking down the clot (thrombolysis) or surgery to implant a stent. |
| Seizure | A surge of electrical activity in the brain causing temporary dysfunction, there are different types of seizure ranging from focal (area specific, such as shouting or absence seizures) to generalized (full body, most commonly tonic-clonic seizures that result in convulsions). Any seizure lasting over 5 minutes is considered an emergency requiring treatment. Epilepsy is the most common seizure disorder. Symptoms: Dependent on seizure, but can include; vacant expression, unresponsiveness, convulsions, loud vocalizations (shouting) and anxiety. | Any seizure lasting more than 5 minutes is considered "Status Epilipticus" and considered an emergency. Benzodiazepines are used to control symptoms, underlying causes must then be treated (e.g., pain). |
| Sepsis | Known as septicemia (blood infection), the body's immune system over-reaction to an infection causing a decrease in blood pressure and high pulse, low temperature and oxygen desaturation (low oxygen levels in the blood). Sepsis left untreated results in septic shock which causes organ failure, each hour sepsis is left untreated, fatality risk increases by 10%. Symptoms: Low blood pressure (due to low blood volume), fast pulse, high or low temperature and decreasing oxygen levels, pale mottled-skin appearance, low frequency of urination, feeling of going to die, confusion. | See "SEPSIS 6"; fluids, antibiotics and oxygen therapy. |
| Shock (Cardiogenic, hypovolemic, obstructive and distributive) | Reduced perfusion (oxygen exchange) between cells due to changes in blood distribution. Four main types (distributive - including septic shock, cardiogenic, hypovolemic, obstructive). Symptoms: Pale or cyanosis (blue skin), fast pulse, shallow breathing, restlessness or unresponsive. For more information about shock: Click Here | Treating the underlying cause, vasoconstriction that tighten blood vessels, blood and fluids. |
| Traumatic and Non-Traumatic Brain Injury | A traumatic brain injury includes physical impaction of the head causing structural damage to the brain. non-traumatic brain injury is internal factors including hypoxia (oxygen starvation), stroke or overdose. Symptoms: Loss of consciousness, seizures, cognitive impairment (issues with thinking, planning and understanding), neurological impairment (nerves, muscle control etc). | Treating the underlying cause (surgical repair, removing blood clot etc.) Brain injuries often result in long-term, irreparable damage to nerves resulting in cognitive impairment, epilepsy, muscle weakness and dysphasia (trouble with speaking). |
| Overdose | Overdose is a type of poisoning and can vary greatly on affects, but essentially is the introduction of substances that are either toxic or consumed in toxic amounts. In this we are including alcohol as a substance. Symptoms: Dependent on substance but may include; diarrhea and vomiting, seizures, liver failure, high temperature, respiratory depression, cardiac arrest. | Usually involves either removing or flushing out the toxin with IV fluids, activated charcoal can be used if overdose was taken recently. |
Closing message:
This guide is a work in progress and I will be adding to it occasionally. If you'd like more explanation on a topic or suggest any tweaks, additions or changes please feel free. My current plan is to add more chronic (long-term) and mental health conditions. Thank you for reading!
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