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What do you think of medical roleplay?


KinnyWynny

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What medical RP is:

Treatment and diagnosis is excessively verbose and RP is symptom centric.

 

What medical RP should be:

Treatment and diagnosis kept concise and RP should be patient centric.

 

Medical RP should not be a copy/paste of the same overly detailed diagnosis and instead focused around creating engaging and interesting  RP with patients .

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I have always had a variety of thoughts on this.  First, I think there has long existed a mismatch on what the average player wants compared to what FD gives.  I believe most people want the "movie" version of FD:  medics arrive to save the day, they do some stabilisation at the scene and then whisk them off to hospital.  I don't think anybody outside of FD finds excessive detail like the specific type of c-collar you're putting on somebody that useful, or the specific type of bandage and the shape of the knot you tie it with.  It might be technically correct and show that FD does things accurately, but I think it's wasted on most people who are not FD.

 

Second, as has been said there is too much questioning on matters that a normal player wouldn't know about.  What's your heart rate:  I don't know?  What's the impact if I say it's 20?  150?  Is that realistic?  Do I have any dizziness?  I don't know, should I?  To solve this, I think a medical script would be super beneficial to everyone.  Heart rate,  blood pressure and some other things could be scripted, injuries could change them and FD could see them scriptly.  FD could help create the script so that people who are hurt are told what kind of effects they are experiencing.  For example (just making it up):  If blood pressure dropped due to bleeding, the player could be informed "you would start to feel light headed, and your fingers would tingle" (I don't know, i'm not a medic).  THEN, the FD can get the hard stats via their RP and the person would have some guidance on what they should be roleplaying to be kind of matching with their actual injuries.  For example, If somebody falls, they would be told that their "right leg hurts and they cannot move it, pain would be very high".  Then, FD could use the script to actually see whatever detail they needed like the exact type of fracture, instead of expecting the player to know about types of fractures and what that means.

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It definitely adds to the character development if done on longer periods because as everyone knows medical conditions affect judgement and often times the complete mindset of the individual that has it - which has the possibilities to bring some good scenes. What the usual issue always was the lack of people interested into roleplaying medical staff, and that always affected how many different facilities we can get running on the server.

At this current state we can just hope the current staff keeps pushing for a more patient-doctor type of roleplay and we get more people to do that, then we'll be able to think about ODs, rehab centers, etc. 

Because bottom line, if you RP a 24/7 healthy character that's going to take a day to recover from 10 gunshot wounds, you're leaving zero place for any medical roleplay to even happen.

Edited by undefined
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I roleplay in Fire Department as an EMT, and I think our RP is too detailed sometimes. It might be boring for the patient's party especially if they don't know/care about medical stuff. I notice people tabbing out a lot during medical RP.

 

So, I think we should somehow reduce the details, so it's not too boring for the other party.

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2 hours ago, Paenymion said:

I have always had a variety of thoughts on this.  First, I think there has long existed a mismatch on what the average player wants compared to what FD gives.  I believe most people want the "movie" version of FD:  medics arrive to save the day, they do some stabilisation at the scene and then whisk them off to hospital.  I don't think anybody outside of FD finds excessive detail like the specific type of c-collar you're putting on somebody that useful, or the specific type of bandage and the shape of the knot you tie it with.  It might be technically correct and show that FD does things accurately, but I think it's wasted on most people who are not FD.

 

Second, as has been said there is too much questioning on matters that a normal player wouldn't know about.  What's your heart rate:  I don't know?  What's the impact if I say it's 20?  150?  Is that realistic?  Do I have any dizziness?  I don't know, should I?  To solve this, I think a medical script would be super beneficial to everyone.  Heart rate,  blood pressure and some other things could be scripted, injuries could change them and FD could see them scriptly.  FD could help create the script so that people who are hurt are told what kind of effects they are experiencing.  For example (just making it up):  If blood pressure dropped due to bleeding, the player could be informed "you would start to feel light headed, and your fingers would tingle" (I don't know, i'm not a medic).  THEN, the FD can get the hard stats via their RP and the person would have some guidance on what they should be roleplaying to be kind of matching with their actual injuries.  For example, If somebody falls, they would be told that their "right leg hurts and they cannot move it, pain would be very high".  Then, FD could use the script to actually see whatever detail they needed like the exact type of fracture, instead of expecting the player to know about types of fractures and what that means.

 

2 hours ago, TommyX said:

I roleplay in Fire Department as an EMT, and I think our RP is too detailed sometimes. It might be boring for the patient's party especially if they don't know/care about medical stuff. I notice people tabbing out a lot during medical RP.

 

So, I think we should somehow reduce the details, so it's not too boring for the other party.

One major criticism I have of the Fire Department is twofold, it isn't exactly authentic to a city Fire Department's motus apparatus, aka, they have an issue where they're caught between two worlds, the everyday world of players not giving two shits about medical roleplay, and people pushing for better roleplay, but thinking that more medical details is the answer. Any authentic EMS crew would never just transport a patient without getting details, call volume be damned, you're there to provide quality roleplay, not a taxi service. Take your time, do the details, be authentic to what EMS is, a mobile healthcare solution to everyday issues. And you'll find it to be far more rewarding than the current state of "Eh, who cares, toss them into the back and go." Use your partners, HAVE partners.

 

One of the biggest issues I have with EMT roleplayers on this server, is not there knowledge on specific medical details, it's how they act. I've seen Fire Department players come to the ER, state "I've just transported the patient, didn't treat them", didn't bring the crew who did treat them, and didn't ask the patient anything, not their name, age, what they do, what happened, vitals be damned, we can make those up, but details that are important and what EMS would definitely get is lost. And I feel like this creates the burnout FD players find themselves constantly in.

 

It isn't about the medical details, yes nurses and doctor roleplayers will ask about them, but that's not what we're looking for, we're looking for what happened to the patient and what you did. I encourage EMT roleplayers to focus less on treatments, you can just say you did something, yes get your IV's in so we can give drugs, yes give drugs too, because drugs can effect how a player roleplays if you explain to them what a certain drug does, but the patching/c-collaring can be handwaved in the end. It's about you and the patient, interact with them, get details, and talk with them. If you've ever seen a show based on real life EMT's, it's all about the questions they ask.

 

Now with that said, let's go to the patients. If you're uncomfortable with the questions EMS or Doctors/nurses are asking, ask them in PM's, "Hey, I have no idea what this means, can you just make up the vitals?" And from there, roleplay how you'd /want/ your character to roleplay. Having a heart attack? Look up the symptoms and do some spicy /me's, and have EMS/Hospital personnel make up the vitals, we have the resources to do so. It's a far smoother roleplay experience for everyone involved.

 

If you don't care, don't wanna roleplay it, you can refuse care. Sign a document, and go on your merry way, no one in the medical field likes people who go afk or straight up ignore us. That goes for cops, civilians, criminals and everyone in between. You all do this, you all can refuse care (unless you're a child or you're mentally insane) and so forth.

Edited by KinnyWynny
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To kind of bat off a few of the points made on this thread regarding detail, and I say this as one of the highest level physicians at PHMC. Detail is fun if -you- the victim want to provide it, but don’t feel obligated to. What makes patients interesting is more about the interaction to be had with the patient and less about me getting to vomit up treatment protocols. 
 

By far the most important thing you can do as a victim, especially if you don’t know detail, is be interactive. I work in emergency medicine IRL and most of the MVAs and traumatic injuries I’ve been to, BY FAR, the patient has been awake and talking at least to some degree. In more serious causes they might be confused, talking incoherently, but awake none the less. Modern vehicles are surprisingly good at keeping you safe compared to what they used to be, at least if you wear your seatbelt. Unless you were going 100MPH and flew off a cliff or went head on into another vehicle going 90MPH, just stay awake and talk with the medics and doctors. Feel free to go in /b and say “I don’t know what I’m doing, just make all the vitals and stuff up, whatever you think is appropriate” and just talk with them ICly when they ask you questions about your name, date of birth, medical history, often we’ll make jokes with patients in the real world, just be interactive. Let the EMT or medic worry about the medical side of things, you focus on what you know, the social aspect.

 

Also, if you are absolutely not in the mood to roleplay with us by the time you get to PHMC. Just tell us that in /b, during peak hours we are usually busy enough anyways, we will never report someone for being honest and saying they don’t want to roleplay with us. Just tell us “I want Doctor Smith, in /b, or I wanna skip.” And we will be more than happy to oblige so we can focus our efforts on those who do want to RP with us.

 

(Written on my phone, forgive mistakes.)

Edited by TheSenate
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8 hours ago, dizzyizzy said:

I wish LFM would let people create private practices, 

 

This wouldn't help. There is simply not enough demand as of right now to justify the existence of more private clinics which would essentially carry out the same duties and responsibilities as the ones that currently exist out there.

 

More private clinics don't mean more medical roleplay opportunities. This is a common misconception held by numerous people. This idea has been put to practice countless times in the past and plenty of dedicated individuals have put in a great amount of effort to found their own private clinics only for them to die down a mere few weeks after foundation. There's a huge lack of community interest in them as a whole, and they take away a slice of the whole 'medical cake' that as a result is detrimental to other medical factions. It's the reason why, for example, private ambulance companies are frowned upon, because they would not fix any issues in the current state of medical roleplay, but rather make them more obvious.

 

Myself and a couple of others who have roleplayed in the medical field for many years share the opinion that centralization is key. This allows the lack of demand to be fought back if those interested in roleplaying within the medical sector combine efforts and work together towards one big, centralized hospital/clinic faction that is capable of providing a more functional and a more complete hub for hospital/clinic roleplay. Ideally, this would mean that the only factions which focus entirely on the medical roleplay would be the LSFD (prehospital) and PHMC (hospital).

 

The one time this was partially attempted — when Phoenix merged with PHMC, the success was tremenduous, activity hit its peak, and all sides were happy for the most part. Phoenix was allowed to undertake their original plans to open a rehab center under PHMC's wing, and in the meantime they would assist us with our daily activities. Eventually, the interest in the rehab center died down and it demotivated a few people from Phoenix but nonetheless, it was a great solution carried out at the time which helped make hospital roleplay great again, and I wish more people would show their availability more often to help others out rather than having an egotistical "if I'm not my own boss, then I'm not helping out" mindset that does absolutely nothing but worsen the state of medical roleplay as a whole on the server.

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It's just a bit frightening to say something completely inaccurate for your condition as you're not a professional, not even because you'll die, but more because people would not like it very much. I'll try to take TheSenate's advice to heart next time when there is a chance, thanks!

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1 hour ago, Shaderz said:

It's the reason why, for example, private ambulance companies are frowned upon, because they would not fix any issues in the current state of medical roleplay, but rather make them more obvious.

 

The problem that comes with this assessment (which I agree with partially) is that there's the other side of the coin: some people want to take part in Medical RP, but don't want to be in PHMC or LSFD, due to a variety of reasons, from differences in opinion to practical differences in how they would RP different things. As someone who has already been in LSFD for a very long time and up to command roles, I wouldn't join it again (for several reasons), but I'd join a private ambulance company to explore a different flavour of paramedic RP (similar to how SD and PD have become differentiated entities with different identities). For example, I find that FD is sometimes too "professional" or clean cut, for lack of a better word, whereas I'd want more of a down to earth, maybe even slightly messier, burnt out and light-hearted group of unionized paramedics, to name an example.

 

In the same way, there's many medical RPers who would also provide something different but don't want to be a part of the offered array of factions.

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