Medical Roleplay Guide
Written by Lily
Medical roleplay can confuse new players and veterans with terms like "compound fracture" and "hypertension" thrown around by experienced medical roleplayers. These terms can make roleplay with medics seem scary and unapproachable, which leads to simple /me's and /do's that lack depth and can make roleplay boring for yourself and the person you're roleplaying with. Listed below are suggestions to help make roleplay with medics more approachable along with making your injuries more believable.
Calling 912
You got run over by a reckless driver near Del Perro pier; what now? You should contact medics in one of a few ways to get treated for your injuries and continue your day. Pull out your phone by clicking on the lower right hand of your screen on the part of your phone popping out from the bottom of your screen and dial 912. From here, you'll communicate with dispatch your character's injuries. Be descriptive with dispatch when describing the issue, and keep your description in character. Saying that you're injured or dying doesn't necessarily help the medic determine what resources may need to be deployed to assist in roleplaying your injuries.Depending on your injuries, you may be unable to reach for your character's phone. This is where other players may be able to assist. Describe through a /my or /do what type of injuries they may see, such as "/me holds her ankle crying in pain" or "/do there would be a large slash to her arm," which can help the other player communicate with dispatch about your injuries better.
All information provided to dispatch is IC and appears on the dispatch list for members of the EMS faction. Calls placed for OOC reasons, such as "I died from a glitch" or "My chracter died to a bug," will be closed immediately; if you died to something OOC, please contact staff by placing a /report while in the server. If staff cannot reach you within a reasonable amount of time, feel free to roleplay an injury and call 912 for a medic to stabilize you.
Medics Arrive on Scene
You'll be notified when a medic finally accepts your call. The medic will drive to the location from where you sent the phone call; avoid moving from that spot if you wish to be stabilized in a timely fashion. Sometimes, their GPS can be faulty and have difficulty finding an injured person; if you're in a difficult-to-reach spot or a spot that might be hard for someone to see, try using the /shout command to get their attention.Once they have located you, they will ask you to describe your injuries so they may roleplay accordingly. Each medic has a unique way of approaching a new patient; however, all medics will always end this first part of the interaction with some variation of "/do what would I find?"
Roleplaying Your Injuries
Responding to the medic's "/do what would I find" is the most fun part of the medical roleplay experience. This is the part where your creativity can shine and create a fun experience for yourself and the medic.
Think about how you got to this state in the first place and base your injuries realistically on that type of situation. If you were in a gunfight, you might roleplay being shot in your leg, but roleplaying having a broken leg wouldn't make much sense. If you got hit by a car, you'd likely have more than a sprained ankle.
Some examples of in-depth roleplay injuries:
- /do you would see her broken bone sticking out of a large gash on her forearm
- /my hands would feel cold to the touch
- /me holds his right hand over his left shoulder while wincing in pain
- /do there would be a large rash on his arms
"/do yes" or "/do there would be no injuries" are considered poor roleplay, and you'll be encouraged by the medic oocly to provide better injury roleplay. Medics deal with more than just broken bones, so don't fear tossing a more complicated injury or more than one injury into your roleplay scenario to have a more fun experience.
Other poor roleplay responses include:
- /do nothing
- /me would not be alive
- /do would be perfectly fine
- /do yes
Examples
Gunshot Wounds
Gunshot wounds or GSW's are even more common than car accidents and are an everyday occurrence for medics to treat. Make yourself stand out by helping describe how many GSWs you would have and where they would be located. You can determine how many GSWs you have but we do ask that you roleplay a manageable amount. Avoid roleplaying as a piece of Swiss cheese if possible even if you think it'll get you out of charges.
Examples of good GSW roleplay:
- /me would have 4 GSWs, 2 to the shoulder and 2 to the back of the arm
- /do the blood would begin seeping through the gauze as the bleeding doesn't slow
Let's run through some examples of common situations and how we can improve roleplay for them. The first common scenario is being run over by a vehicle or being in a car accident. A vehicle driving at full speed hitting you or being in a car crash may only leave you with a broken arm or leg, however more times than not you'll find yourself with more injuries than just a broken arms. You don't always need to go into depth however incorporating multiple injuries into one roleplay scenario can give the medic more to do on a scene.
- /me would be unconscious in the front seat with shards of glass on her lap
- /my head would be bleeding from a large gash on her forehead
- /do his legs would be covered in severe road rash
- /me would be holding his arm while sobbing in pain
- /me bites her cheek as she attempts to move her bloodied hand to the gash along her shoulder
Additional Medical Roleplay
Roleplay is not limited by just script, you can still call 912 even if you're not scriptly injured. San Andreas Medical Services offers multiple other styles of roleplay to provide in-depth roleplay to community members. Some of our divisions provide extended roleplay sessions over multiple days, weeks or months. Examples of these types of divisions include the following:
San Andreas Fire Department
Members of the San Andreas Fire Department division do more than just putting out fires. They also assist in severe car crashes and HAZMAT situations. Roleplaying with the fire department can be incredibly fun in situations where your vehicle may have caught fire or you've flipped your vehicle. With a large fleet of red colored vehicles, you'll be able to spot members of our fire department from anywhere.
Advanced Medical Unit
Sometimes referred to as Public Health Services (PHS) by some of our medics, the Advanced Medical Unit is full of trained medics who are trained to be able to handle the stress of complicated injuries out in the field and in our hospitals. Advance Medical Unit is made up of nurses, doctors and surgeons who are trained to be able to perform in-depth surgical roleplay for those interested in extending treatment from the field. Division members are also trained in standard medical practices for regular check ups and medical evaluations.
Psychology and Crisis ResponseLife is tricky, and sometimes our mental health can take a backseat to the craziness of day to day life. Our Psychology and Crisis Response division are dedicated to help make taking care of your mental health just a bit easier. Trained to take on high stress situations such as mental crisis, medics apart of this unit are calm under pressure and perform to high standards to ensure that all members of our community receive the help they need. They can also perform psychology and therapy appointments upon request.
Note: Members of this unit are NOT trained professionals and no information or advice they provide should be taken seriously. If you need assistance, please seek help from professionals in your area.
These are just a few of the many divisions SAMS has to offer for community members to interact with such as search and rescue and air support. All of these divisions allow for community members to roleplay in unique ways and create fun and interesting storylines for their characters. Members of SAMS are always willing to roleplay with community members and are willing to assist in large scale roleplays upon request.
On behalf of all members of San Andreas Medical Services, we look forwards to seeing you in Los Santos!