Medical Items (Classic Journeys Era)

=Medical Items=

Well, this is a list of some medical items we're going to supply for convenience, system, and RP reasons. It is by no means exhaustive, and you're free to, within reason and consent, RP the effects of other things which -should- exist. Also, feel free to alert us to anything we've left out. Just remember, there are logical medical systems in effect. You won't have high-end medical scanners lying around.

By the same token, if you're a Doctor in his or her own hospital office, you're highly likely to have -everything- you'd need. Everything is, of course, relative to the ambient usual level of medical technology on the world in question.

=Medkits=

The most basic of medical items and also the most versatile is the medical kit. Medical kits come in many different shapes, sizes and qualities. Each kit contains different things, and should ICly enable you to perform different tasks. The capabilities of your kit will vary depending on its quality and should be roleplayed according to what would be in it. While some license is given in this, its fair to assume you won't have advanced drugs, morphine, etc. in a Fair medical kit or below. Likewise, you won't have huge amounts of high end drugs or advanced tech scanners in anything under Superb. Please see our section on medical kits for more information.

=Drugs=

Many classes of drugs exist. These range from the bloodstream administered types, to oral medications, and others. Since there are undoubtedly so many medications put out by so many different pharmaceutical companies in the universe of OtherSpace, we are going to begin with some general categories, and branch out later. These are just a comprehensive few, and we will add specific agents later. Recommendations are always welcome.

Psychoactive Drugs
This is a broad category encompassing all varieties of drugs with true psychological effects. From antidepressants, to non-sleep-inducing sedative agents (anti anxiety medication), to pills intended to alter memory or supress mental chemical inbalances, which thus have an effect on mood or mental stability.



=Diagnostic Equipment=

=Surgical Tools=

The surgical skill is not something you can use without a full hospital surgical suite at your disposal. Even if you have a basic kit comprising a scalpel, foreceps, clamps, etc., and someone to help you, this should be at BEST, a heavily penalized Medical roll for the species being operated on (if, and if you only have that skill), and will usually be a First Aid roll.

Surgery isn't done on the spur of the moment, it's done with a specific plan in mind and a lot of tools at your disposal. As such, Surgery rolls will NEVER be made outside a properly outfitted medbay or hospital, with at least one person to assist you (solo surgery is theoretically possible, but would likewise be highly penalized depending on severity of wound). Surgery is only a resort for the highly skilled when all other viable methods will not produce results in treatment.

Higher quality hospital suites or additional support

=About Doctor's Offices=

There are hospitals and doctor's offices in the world. If you work in a hospital, but you don't have your own personalized office, you can reasonably expect that medical supplies will be available to you. However, hospitals are notorious for requiring justification. "He's got a bad headache" is NOT justification for illicitly signing out enough morphine to keep a small village full of junkies happy. If you've got a bleeding patient in front of you, you can -generally- get to an OR, unless it would advance the story for all operating rooms to be full and you to have to operate with scissors and a crayon in the lobby.

=Herbalism=

Just a note on the Herbalism skill. It has its own class of items! Yep, that's right. Herbalism is basically a set of medical items all in its own right, or will be. Of course, we obviously won't be covering every single Herbal medicine in the galaxy. The important thing to remember about Herbalism is that, while some of its natural remedies are in fact -more- effective than conventional pharmeceuticals, they generally have quite unpredictable side effects.

Also, some herbs will not be what they seem to be. They're not always clearly labelled like pills in a pharmacy, and "My sister's boyfriend told me this thing's a wicked hangover cure", does NOT equate to "We've performed one thousand clinical trials". One strain of a given herb won't always have the same effects as another. However, these aberrant cases aside, the herb pages will contain information on some specific herbs that serve as examples of reasonable effects and side effects.

Note that someone with the Herbal Medicine skill will be sufficiently able not only to breed and grow strains of herbs they encounter, but will have a large store of knowledge concerning the areas where they've studied that discipline. Thus, they will assumably know a LOT more about which herbs are harmful and which are not, than some street person administering a given medicine. They'll also be better at treating any side-effects that DO occur.