The future of medical roleplay

[eTaylor]

Creating an entire complex medical system is going to absolutely wreck everyone and help no one. I’d suggest starting with phases so people can get used to different systems over time. And start with improving combat systems. We’ve already added bleeding and basic injury types. Maybe with the medical expertise we have in our community we can develop an in depth injury system. Think ACE3 but for World. Lift the burden of players having to come up with medical jargon and spar with paramedics who speak Latin, and take away the need for paramedics to oversimplify their interest. You can build on that with our rules and add a post-care injury system that lasts at least an hour that prevents people from immediately jumping back into the fray but still lets them RP with relative freedom. Idk, just shooting shit 

[tayswiz]

2 minutes ago, Biscuit said:

this might as well be a completely unpopular opinion but as someone who's been quietly observing LSFD throughout the years and I don't say this to hate, I just hope something can improve on it.

 

The current training to become a medic is too hard for the server, the retention rate for the faction was already low, now it's just lower. It's cool, but given the fact that when I roleplayed with a bunch of medics and they started asking me very specific questions that I had no idea what the meaning of it was, it's just a bit too complicated.

 

Compared to the previous medical procedures, whilst yes, inconsistent, it still offered a baseline into medical roleplay while compensating for the roleplay that's based on this server. Cause right now, if you go through the training offered for medical roleplay, you come out an EMT in real-life.

 

As a suggestion, something genuinely has to be done to simplify the medical procedures, especially because in 99% of callouts you have people that don't really care about medical roleplay that much, whilst also maintaining a baseline of realism. I think I can confidently say that nobody outside of LSFD roleplayers knows the meaning of Oropharyngeal airways and nasopharyngeal airways.

 

Same for PHMC. You have people roleplaying in there who work in the field IRL and as they are roleplaying, they're using actual terminology and roleplaying scenarios in ways that the general public outside of the medical field wouldn't understand at all. This not only deters people from roleplaying along side them but sets crazy expectations. While I appreciate the attention to detail, I think SOME of it is probably unnecessary or certainly needs to be balanced. 

I will say there are some people who give the disclaimer that you don't have to know and RP like them, they just happen to know these things, it still creates an unbalanced and oftentimes overcomplicated experience when roleplaying alongside them. 

[eTaylor]

1 minute ago, tayswiz said:

I will say there are some people who give the disclaimer that you don't have to know and RP like them, they just happen to know these things, it still creates an unbalanced and oftentimes overcomplicated experience when roleplaying alongside them. 

This is generally why I’ll roleplay being unconscious until I’m put in the recovery room, doing other things outside of the game and checking to answer basic questions. Medical roleplay frustrates me immensely, but that frustration has nothing to do with those offering said care. Almost everything on GTA World is designed for people get to play this game 6 to 12 hours a day, they can do all these complex in depth stuff. Most normal people can’t. You log on to play a game but instead you’re shot, isolated from the rest of the server to fumble with Latin and latinized Greek terminology, put in the recovery room after a lengthy procedure and by the time you’re finally “let go” you already have to log out. It makes me not want to roleplay injuries at all, personally because getting shot means logging out. 

[TheSenate]

34 minutes ago, Biscuit said:

this might as well be a completely unpopular opinion but as someone who's been quietly observing LSFD throughout the years and I don't say this to hate, I just hope something can improve on it.

 

The current training to become a medic is too hard for the server, the retention rate for the faction was already low, now it's just lower. It's cool, but given the fact that when I roleplayed with a bunch of medics and they started asking me very specific questions that I had no idea what the meaning of it was, it's just a bit too complicated.

 

Compared to the previous medical procedures, whilst yes, inconsistent, it still offered a baseline into medical roleplay while compensating for the roleplay that's based on this server. Cause right now, if you go through the training offered for medical roleplay, you come out an EMT in real-life.

 

As a suggestion, something genuinely has to be done to simplify the medical procedures, especially because in 99% of callouts you have people that don't really care about medical roleplay that much, whilst also maintaining a baseline of realism. I think I can confidently say that nobody outside of LSFD roleplayers knows the meaning of Oropharyngeal airways and nasopharyngeal airways.

 

This is factually incorrect when it comes to our retention rate. Before the changes in the first few months of 2023, we retained -1- member recruited in that time period (Sage Fowler). After those changes our retention rate has improved from that baseline fairly remarkably and we have gained a fair amount of active members who have stuck around. If anything we've made an effort to simplify and streamline things for the reality of the server while still keeping an appropriate amount of realism in the mix because this is a heavy roleplay server. 

 

We do not require people to get anywhere close to the degree of knowledge you'd require to become an EMT or Paramedic in real life, we have never asked anyone to learn about the Kreb cycle or acid-base balance, or other complex anatomy and physiology because it is simply unnecessary for the server. In fact we actually reduced the EMT scope of practice to make it easier to learn, removing items that were previously included in it so the experience would be streamlined. 

 

LSFD has always used OPAs and NPAs so long as I have interacted with them going all the way back to my time in LSSD in 2020, along with every other medical faction and division including LSPD SWAT, LSSD ESD, and PHMC. 

 

EDIT: EMTs in the US require roughly 180 hours of education and paramedics get at least 1216 (from my own experience). Having seen people do our checklists in a matter of days through regular activity, I can confidently say nobody is putting in even close to 180 hours to get their EMT or paramedic on this server.

 

Double Edit: This is also the same reason we recently brought back AEMT, to provide a simplified alternative to a full-blown paramedic that is in line with the reality of the server. 

Edited February 15 by TheSenate

[Biscuit]

14 minutes ago, TheSenate said:

This is factually incorrect when it comes to our retention rate.

 

I assume you have access to some sort of statistics.

 

Is there any chance you can go over the numbers, since I'm going by what I've been told from another FD Command member.

 

Going specifically by the numbers of how many guys you've fully completed EMT/Paramedic training with & how many people are currently in training, what is the average amount of time that someone needs to get trained for field deployment?

 

i may have been mislead.

 

Regarding the complexity of medical standards: My opinion remains the same. I believe it's too complicated for the current playerbase of the server.

[hitchhiker]

Personally, I'm not worried by how complex medical roleplay gets when my character is injured. I just get uncomfortable when my medical knowledge is so basic I have to resort to ChatGPT to keep up with what's going on.

 

It's like a movie scene where someone is getting rushed into the hospital and paramedics say stuff that sounds like the most random shit, 10cc of this, 1 milligram of that, nitroglycerin, 180, nuclear fusion, aphthous stomatitis.

 

It's like I'm being spoon-fed roleplay, and I've no clue when I'm even supposed to write my own. It's not their fault if they're knowledgeable, it's mine for being so clueless.

[eTaylor]

15 minutes ago, hitchhiker said:

Personally, I'm not worried by how complex medical roleplay gets when my character is injured. I just get uncomfortable when my medical knowledge is so basic I have to resort to ChatGPT to keep up with what's going on.

 

It's like a movie scene where someone is getting rushed into the hospital and paramedics say stuff that sounds like the most random shit, 10cc of this, 1 milligram of that, nitroglycerin, 180, nuclear fusion, aphthous stomatitis.

 

It's like I'm being spoon-fed roleplay, and I've no clue when I'm even supposed to write my own. It's not their fault if they're knowledgeable, it's mine for being so clueless.

“TT-133 to control. Patient NC570442 secured… stimulants being administered - 70 milligrams dopamines, 110 norepinephrine, 800 fibrinogens…”

[Halcyon]

9 hours ago, Sharvit said:

What do you guys think about paid healthcare? having people pay for treatment & ambulance services and the ability to have health insurance that reduces costs? 

Considering we are a heavy RP server, this is very realistic for USA. Yes, medical bills.

[Ascendency]

I wasn't a member of LSFD, but here's my word: LSFD doesn't feel like a US fire department, and even a fire department. Although roleplay freedom is the key point, I believe LFM should do something to adjust LSFD to make it a modern fire department. Nowadays, LSFD rather looks like a Canadian fire department. That may refrain skilled roleplayers from LSFD. As it's mentioned before, I also think script-wise injuries are highly required.

 

Radical changes are required to change the medical roleplay: LSFD should evolve to LSCoFD, and there should be private EMS companies run by players. This would allow firefighters to focus on their main roleplay scheme, and EMS-centric players to have their own bureaucracy, company, and company politics. A well-designed LSCoFD may work pretty fine to solve the current medical roleplay issues. Members of LSCoFD may also have alt characters for EMS roleplay but LSFD already has a pretty low amount of players, so an LSCoFD wouldn't have any issues regarding finding something to roleplay.

 

PHMC should also be disbanded: Even though GTA World is one of the biggest roleplay servers yet, PHMC is way too big and hospital roleplay doesn't feel natural. With a few amount of departments, focusing on the emergency department, a new, smaller hospital may focus on handling injuries. That new hospital should be labeled under ULSA, where people can actually roleplay being medical students, along with university life. 

 

With more extensive medical licenses, those who want to roleplay private clinics and psychologists can roleplay without having to handle faction politics and being under the rule of someone else. And even with that, people may, in the future, have player-run hospitals!

Edited February 15 by Ascendency

[TheSenate]

1 hour ago, Biscuit said:

 

I assume you have access to some sort of statistics.

 

Is there any chance you can go over the numbers, since I'm going by what I've been told from another FD Command member.

 

Going specifically by the numbers of how many guys you've fully completed EMT/Paramedic training with & how many people are currently in training, what is the average amount of time that someone needs to get trained for field deployment?

 

i may have been mislead.

 

Regarding the complexity of medical standards: My opinion remains the same. I believe it's too complicated for the current playerbase of the server.

 

So the statistic that was alarming to us when I first got involved with the faction back in March/April 2023 was long-term retention. We'd get around 8-10 applicants, send about 4-5 to the academy, and retain almost nobody beyond that. This was before any changes to the training system when academies were still required. The only person who stayed up to the point of this initial review in about April was Sage Fowler, who has been with us since. Not a single other recruit stuck around past probation in that time period. The period in review was Jan 2023-April 2023 for reference.

 

Compare that to the last four months (Nov 2023 - Feb 2024), we have retained 11 people so far, 8 of whom are off probation and have moved on to further training, and the 3 most recently hired in late January are still on probation. Of those 8 who have been retained and are off probation, 3 are already AEMTs, 1 is a paramedic, 3 are AEMT students, and 1 is a paramedic student in the final stages of training. That is a massive improvement by comparison. 2 of the current AEMTs are also paramedic students.

 

It is also important to keep in mind when interpreting this information that we make it very clear to people that the training is at their pace, not everyone rushes their sign-offs and ride-alongs and that is purely by choice.

 

EDIT: Missed your question about field deployment. The answer is 0 days, we put people into the field immediately and use a field training model where they learn as they go, both on actual calls and back at the station.

Edited February 15 by TheSenate