Miserable Medics Sharing Tips: The Thread

[Imperaxum]

My very own Miserable Medic, Vasilia 'Kops' Kopchek. Edit: I reference this guide below, but this (http://cm-ss13.com/viewtopic.php?t=4482) obscure medic loadout guide was the thing I read before I did my first medic round, and it's absolutely vital reading for any would-be medic. I can't reccomend it enough - while the discussion below is fairly casual and often times strangely philosophical with treating wounds on 2d spacemen, and while I think it's quite worth it to read through it all - you should read this guide first if you want a crash course on all the vital chemicals, equipment, and treatments for injuries that you'll find in CM. Credit to the guide goes to Disco Dalek.

Since out of the 11 threads in this new USCM sub-forum one is advertising a joke bar, eight are about metabuddy clans, one is mocking said clans, and the last is about general discussion that has zero replies, I figured I ought to make a thread.

Vasilia 'Kops' Kopchek here. Being a medic is unappreciated, stressful, confusing, and frusturating. You don't know surgery, a good part of your job is screaming at command to send the dropships for guys with fractures (everybody), you have to RP not knowing what the worm icon on your medic HUD is round after round, marines with their lungs dropping out of their chest will run away from you as you try to jab them with Quick Clot, and marines will pull their wounded buddies to death trying to find you. And if, by God's great mercy, you see another medic doing their job, they're probably just ODing the critted marine on Tricord. Fucking tricordazine. And yet, we're absolutely vital to the Marine effort, and more importantly vital to the quality of the round for every single Marine that heads to the planet.

So, this is the thread for for the medics that have tips to share, stories to tell, or even just to acknowledge each other.

I'll start with some general tips. First of all, prep for a medic should take a long time. Empty the tricord injectors and Russian Red and gauze and ointment and shit out of your CLBs. If you don't know what a Combat Lifesaver Bag is and show up to the planet with a Medical Belt, I'll gut you myself. I usually take an advanced medkit and two default medkits, but I empty out the default ones since that dramatically increases your carrying capacity. One medkit gets filled with every type of pill bottle (an extra Tramadol especially, even though I pack a Tramadol bottle in my CLB), and the other gets filled with ammo, flares, spare pistols - my medic weapon loadout is a machete in my suit storage and several backup pistols in pockets/armor/medkits. Third emptied medkit if the doctors don't make bicardine pills, I just fill it up with bicardine injectors from the MarineMeds in the medbay lobby and sacrifice my second stasis bag.

That's another tip. Head to medbay and see if the doctors have made some peridaxon+ or bicardine. The MarineMeds in the medbay lobby are nearly copies of your medic vendors. I wear a sterile mask from medbay storage for Marines to identify me more easily. I've never used Russian Red ever.

It's getting late and I'm starting to ramble here, so I'll stop and see if any of you metabuddies and curious xenos that browse the new USCM sub-forum have any medical things you want to share.

Cheers all the medics out there, and oo-rah to the ashes. I don't expect this minimally formated thread to take off at all.

[farquad94]

this helps alot since I was considering doing some medic rounds. I have only done a doctor this whole time but didnt want to fail bad at medic

[Mech__Warrior]

Wrote some good stuff here, but it should be mentioned that you can fully optimize your storage space by swapping out those autoinjectors with syringe cases, which hold three each. So essentially, you just tripled your storage capacity even though it makes taking that shit out take much longer. Another thing is that I'd rather carry two advanced first aid kits and a suffocation kit because you'd be better off keeping a health analyzer in your pocket and swapping out for the kits only when your CLB is out of advanced trauma kits. However, Dexalin is something you don't have easy access to, and the Dex Plus auto injectors only inject 1u into the body, so it really doesn't last that long for oxygen loss.

To be honest, I wonder if medics have access to the chem lab. I don't think they do, but if you could make some ketolane/dermaline pills, that'd quickly heal any burns your guys may encounter.

[crono23]

Here's an interesting tip for some of you: Don't carry a gun. Why? Because it can distract you from your duty. Your primary job is to heal, not fight, and being in possession of anything that goes 'bang bang' is more than enough to distract you enough. You can still carry a gun if you want, but I find it a burden to try and carry it as well as provide ammo for it, if I ever use it at all. There are only 3 real situations where using a pistol/SMG/rifle/whatever would be acceptable to a medic, 2 of which can be avoided, and neither of which are a good excuse.

The first is a retreat from pretty much anywhere. Almost all the other marines have ran away, except for you and the guy who lost his legs. Yes, the adrenaline rush from healing someone can sometimes cloud judgement, but if you start to notice people falling back, then quickly bandage him up and fully heal him when in a safer location. Pulling out a gun in this situation will not only draw attention to your location, but also rob your side of at least two valuable assets if you get unlucky.

Secondly, a full planetary retreat. The dropship is due to arrive in a minute, marines are trying desperately to push back the endless alien tide, and you are attempting to shove back in the intestines of some poor soul. Should you pick up your gun and start shooting? No. True, more firepower is better in a situation like this, but depending on your skills, a competent field medic is worth upwards of a dozen marines.

Lastly, an assault of any type. In this case it is somewhat acceptable to grab a gun and start shooting, but the moment you see someone go down, you should drop everything and work on fixing him up. I don't think I need to explain why this should be your standard reaction in this situation.

Of course you can still carry a gun if you so wish. But in my experience, carrying a gun is a burden. Leave the shooting to the other classes and fix them up when they go down.

[Evan Stelf]

I usually just bring as many quick clots and trama packs as I can carry and hope to god they don't shoot me.

[Disco Dalek]

There's plenty of guide threads hanging around, but it's about time someone made a discussion thread specifically for medics (at least this is the first one I've seen). I'll try not to write a ten page essay since the guides take care of that, I'll just mention a few basic things.

Use stasis bags only when you have no other choice. They can help you drag a patient in critical condition away from combat if you need to move quickly (aka you just spotted a pack of ancient aliens ripping your squad to shreds) or if you can't prevent a patient from dying. Stasis bags will eventually kill the occupant given enough time and at the very least will cause enough brain/genetic damage to incapacitate any marine that was in decent condition.

Be mindful of other medics. If it looks like they have a patient under control, don't barge in and try to handle it yourself. Only step in if the patient is in critical condition or if the other medic proves to be incompetent. Remember, you have to assume they know what they're doing until they prove otherwise. Watching from a distance to make sure everything goes smoothly is fine, you can just keep an eye on their health bar with your HUD. If you do need to assist another medic with a critical patient, try to work on damage that they aren't currently fixing. Assume that the first medic on the scene will treat bleeding, brute damage, burn or toxin damage, broken bones, and finally administer painkillers in that order. Be EXTREMELY careful while giving pills to another medic's patient. Don't accidently give them the same pill and don't mix a dylovene pill with an inaprovaline pill or you'll give them a massive tricordrazine overdose. It's usually best to avoid giving pills in this situation as the other medic may make the same mistake.

Understand organ damage. Suffocation damage can be caused by lung damage, heart damage, or blood loss. Blood loss shows on your health analyzer so it's easy to identify. Heart damage usually shows as twenty or so suffocation damage that doesn't fade over time or get any worse. Lung damage is the real killer as it can climb to over 100 damage if the patient was dragged around enough with broken ribs. Don't waste dexalin plus on blood loss or heart damage except in cases of emergency. In a similar (though less severe) way to broken ribs, a broken groin will cause gradual toxin damage. Broken skulls will cause gradual brain and eye damage but will likely please Khorne.

And now for a list:

• Ensure you grab a medsci encryption key for your headset from the dispenser in your squad's prep room. Communication with medbay is essential.
• Ask the doctors if they're cooking anything up for medics while you're getting prepped. A good doctor is happy if someone actually shows interest in the chems they're making.
• Ask the doctors what their cryo mix is. Good doctors usually use at least a mix of clonex, cryox, and peridaxon in the cryo tubes (please note, it's not your job to tell them how to make the cryo mix, just ask them what it is so you know what you're working with).
• Don't crowd medbay if the doctors have things under control.
• You're a medic, you can't perform surgery or use chemistry but you can use cloning.
• If there are no roller beds in sight, use the grab intent to drag patients with rib or skull fractures. Pulling them will cause organ damage.
• Bother the doctors for peridaxon every chance you get (it heals all organ damage). They really should have a huge quantity of it in storage.
• Read the chemistry section of the wiki. You may not be able to make chems, but you should know how to use them.
• Let doctors know when the pod or shuttle is bringing up wounded.
• Prepare to chase down marines who insist "I'm fine" as their organs hang out of their chest. It's just a fact of life, but it gets easier when they pass out from the pain/blood loss/brain damage/decapitation from the ancient ravager they couldn't see because they were blind and running away from you.

And so ends my attempt at being brief. That didn't work out very well...

[TopHatPenguin]

Remember to think of your 'patients' as giant mixing tubes for chemicals and nothing else.

[Steelpoint]

>don't take a gun

Are you mad? I usually tot around a Shotgun for self defense but I fail to see a reason to not arm yourself

[Warnipple]

Don't forget that when playing as a squad medic, go to front lines and drag a wounded marine back only to have another medic steal your patient.

[Steelpoint]

It is really annoying when your tending to a Marine only for another Medic to run up and start doing their own thing, its a waste of time and you're better off helping someone else.

[Imperaxum]

Wrote some good stuff here, but it should be mentioned that you can fully optimize your storage space by swapping out those autoinjectors with syringe cases, which hold three each. So essentially, you just tripled your storage capacity even though it makes taking that shit out take much longer. Another thing is that I'd rather carry two advanced first aid kits and a suffocation kit because you'd be better off keeping a health analyzer in your pocket and swapping out for the kits only when your CLB is out of advanced trauma kits. However, Dexalin is something you don't have easy access to, and the Dex Plus auto injectors only inject 1u into the body, so it really doesn't last that long for oxygen loss.

To be honest, I wonder if medics have access to the chem lab. I don't think they do, but if you could make some ketolane/dermaline pills, that'd quickly heal any burns your guys may encounter.

The trick with the syringe cases is really interesting, and exactly the sort of thing I was looking for. I don't think I'll be changing my loadout though out of a personal preference, and the reason you yourself said - it makes taking it out a lot longer. The balance between capacity and accessibility is, I think, one of the core concepts behind being a good Medic, and more importantly, being the Medic you want to be.

I think I'll expand this further, to see where my thoughts on this go. The sliding scale of capacity - at the very extreme on one end would be filling up your backpack with nothing but medkits filled with nothing but syringe cases filled with autoinjectors/pills/bottles. That would be ridiculous, you could empty out every MarineMed and your vendor and still probably have room left over. At the other extreme is an emphasis on autoinjectors in easy to access locations, with a single click on webbing, armor storage, your CLB, or backpack to access your supplies. The middle is what the vast majority of medics use, a combination of quick access supplies and a reserve of backup supplies in medkits and the like. The type of medicine is important, of course. It's vital that your trauma kits are accessed in two clicks, but it's probably not vital you have that sort of quick access to, say, antibiotic pill bottles.

And in this sliding scale of capacity vs. accessibility, a bias to one side is better in one situation. A couple examples; as a medic, I've come across each of these multiple times. You might be on the very front lines in the major of a huge push, just over the river, marines getting wounded and broken all over the place. You simply can't dig through multiple containers (assuming you can remember where everything is perfectly, and I get mixed up with just two or three medkits) when four different marines with varying injuries and moaning for aid. Sometimes, I've had to bandage what I can, run around and shoot everybody up with the hypospray I keep on my armor, maybe a bicardine injector or two, and spend the majority of my extremely limited time shoving Tramadol into everyone's mouths. The Marines are relying on you to get as many guys back into the fight as possible, as many M4A1s pouring fire into that Ravager as possible. Accessibility is key, and also an observant eye to make sure you're not putting you or your patients into danger as the line of battle ebbs and flows.

A vastly different situation is sitting on the shuttle or pod as it heads up. Your left hand got shattered by a Crusher and you've splinted up, but there are six Marines in varying states of dying strapped into chairs or on roller beds around you - and if the situation is particularly bad, you might be stepping over the prone forms of Marines hastily dragged in before it took off. For one, yell over the Medical channel to expect casualties - but it's up to you to keep all these marines alive until they get to Medbay. In that case, having a sheer quantity of supplies will prove vital, racing from marine to marine, scanning and desperately trying to remember if a marine's vital statistics are deteriorating.

Alright. Maybe I'll expand this later, I'm probably getting too overblown. Really appreciate all the tips and observations, guys, and keep them coming. I think we can really make a difference here on the quality of medics in CM. That's a really great achievement, I think.

Two final random tips that I just thought of: One, try to carry around a folded roller bed at all times, if possible. You can grab one from Medbay storage with little fuss at roundstart, and there are two in the Medical Dome on the planet, useful for river pushes. Just click the roller bed and drag it onto your character. Roller beds save lives, the speed at which you can whisk the wounded out of bad situations is simply lifesaving. Whether it's beating out their terrible wounds from killing them, or dodging a Ravager that would have caught you both if you had to grab them and slowly carry them out - roller beds are not absolutely vital, but once you start making a habit of acquiring them, you'll love two.

Two, Oxycodone is excellent, in my experience, for you, the Medic. I carry Oxy injectors on my webbing, and I use them exclusively for shooting myself up if I get wounded in combat. Pain slows you down, and that kills patients on the front line - jab yourself with Oxy and you'll run in there at the usual speed, even if your right arm is hanging limply at your side, your ribs are broken, and Tramadol wouldn't help. Other than that, give Tramadol to every wounded Marine you find. Twenty pills in one bottle is much more useful in the long run than a single autoinjector, or three in a syringe case (Thanks, Mech_Warrior), but with Oxycodone in your system, nothing short of death will stop you from saving your patients. It's the greatest feeling in CM, to know that Marine would have died without you, that you went out of your way to save their life and their round gets to continue.

Again, thanks for all the replies. I'm glad this thread has attracted far more experienced medics, and with all the views, I hope a lot of aspiring medics are reading over this. Might post a story or two later, just to spice it up. Cheers.

[Mech__Warrior]

-snip-

You're very welcome. I found that trick out a few weekends ago when I thought 'You know, I wonder if I could fit syringe cases in my bag' and it worked. Now I'm passing the secret on to everyone. It's too bad that almost all the medivends only have two cases per machine, but hey, it needs to be balanced somehow. To be honest, I think the cases would be better off on a belt for easy access, or perhaps if you could put your combat lifesaver bag on your back. I'm going to try that tonight.

[crono23]

Are you mad?

Yes.

I fail to see a reason to not arm yourself

I already gave some. But then again, I am a madman. Your choice to take me seriously or not :P

[Imperaxum]

I've edited this into the top of the OP, but it deserves repeating, this obscure medic guide (http://cm-ss13.com/viewtopic.php?t=4482) is practically required reading for would-be medics, and an excellent piece on chemicals, equipment, and common injuries you'll find. Can't recommend it enough. Strip away all the casual rambling you find here, and that's the meat of that guide.

[Caroes]

I just want to say the advice of not carrying a gun is probably the best I've heard in awhile. I just played a few rounds bringing only a revolver with an extra clip for self defense, and during combat focused ONLY on positioning/keeping people up/not getting shot by squadmates. This is INCREDIBLY effective and you WILL save lives. Not being focused on shooting with your hands free allows you to shake/grab people who have been stunned, and there's been a number of times a hunter is about to swoop away some poor guy and I've grabbed them like a second before - if I wasn't paying attention (i.e., shooting) he would've been gone.

ALSO, another tip I sorta found while practicing this mentality: HANG BACK! Those AOE stuns will mess your squad up, but if you hang back the stun won't affect you, allowing you to run in and snatch your allies before they get dragged off/hug'd/terribly mauled.

I'll probably post some more tips soon.

[Casany]

So, i used to be a medic, until i got shot 6 times with a revolver for trying to get a guy with a broken skull and chest to the pod...he died later. Anyway, i would like to say thank you for these tips, they have really helped me with my medic-ing. There's only one thing i would like to add: ALWAYS make a SPECIFIED place for patents. i always build a MCotG or MFOB because they help keep patents that cant move because of broken bones safe. I always get an engineer to get a turret to the center and surrond it with walls. Most of the time it lasts longer then the actual FOB. anyway, just adding that.

[Nubs]

2 things i like to do as a medic:

1. Firstly, i grab a hypospray, empty it of tricord, then empty 6 quick clots with a syringe and fill the hypospray with them. You have now saved 6 spaces and have loads of quickclot on hand

2. grab 2 bottles each of inprov and anti-tox. you can draw 5 u from each using a syringe and they will mix inside the syringe to make 10 u of tricord. So by having two bottles you can make 240 u of tricord total, anywhere anytime, for 4 bits of space

[Mech__Warrior]

2 things i like to do as a medic:

1. Firstly, i grab a hypospray, empty it of tricord, then empty 6 quick clots with a syringe and fill the hypospray with them. You have now saved 6 spaces and have loads of quickclot on hand

2. grab 2 bottles each of inprov and anti-tox. you can draw 5 u from each using a syringe and they will mix inside the syringe to make 10 u of tricord. So by having two bottles you can make 240 u of tricord total, anywhere anytime, for 4 bits of space

How do you empty the hypospray? I've been trying to figure that shit out.

[Imperaxum]

How do you empty the hypospray? I've been trying to figure that shit out.

30u is the OD threshold for tricordrazine, I think, so you could probably just jab yourself with it till its empty. Medical dome has an empty hypospray too, but that's not quite as helpful at roundstart.

[Steelpoint]

Using a empty hypospray for your Quickclot is a interesting idea. Two Sprays full of that should pretty much set you up for a very long time, and free up space in your inventory.

[Nubs]

you empty and fill a hypospray with a syringe

[Warnipple]

1 pill of 3u of Peri and 3u of Dexplus (Peri+) should be enough to fix most lung damages. Thats why you should always ask doctors and always playing medical to make/get that first.

Another tip: You can make ghetto tricord in the field by mixing inaprovaline bottles with dyvolene. You can use metal flasks from the MRE vend to fill it up since it can hold 60u.

[Rocco Ward]

You can use metal flasks from the MRE vend to fill it up since it can hold 60u.

On some rounds as medic I have taken the time to gather a metal flask for each member of my squad and fill it with 30 units of tricord. I explictecly told EVERYONE to use it as a last resort in case me and the other medics were somehow not available or incapacitated. Turns out I died, and those metal flasks came in handy for a number of marines!!!

[Desolane900]

• Don't tell people with fractures to get up and walk. Yell at them to Rest or lay down, then move them yourself. If wounds are bandaged you can't rip them by pulling, which is faster than grabbing.
• People often enough rush out only to get fucked up by a Ravager. They deserve it. Don't risk your own life to go try and save some tool baldie.
• They'll teach you in Med school that the little worm icon means someone has a foreign body inside of them. Put two and two together if you watched them get face fucked then see a 'foreign body' indicator above them. It isn't meta if you do it right.
• YELL!ALOT!If some idiot won't stand still for treatment, use your voice and scream at his dumb ass to hold still and get fixed.
• Know your fucking chemicals! If someone has burn damage don't give them Dylovene. The Medic prep has a nifty little sign now that tells you what chemicals do what. Memorize them!
• Stay behind marines during combat. Your job is to heal people, not lead the breach into a nest. If someone receives any injury, no matter how small, treat it how you can! Even a tiny amount of burn damage can paincrit someone after awhile, and can lead to infections. It's best to check for scrapes when they arise and bandage them.
• Ointment OINTMENT OINTMENT!Bandaging a cut is all well and good, but did you know you can actually use ointment on said cut to make it heal faster? Ointment is primarily used for burn damage but you can use it for Brute damage, as well as using bandages for burn damage. If you ran out of Kelotane or the injury is too minor to use it, ointment helps. It's an all around good thing to have.
• Speaking of injuries that are too small for Kelotane, if someone has anything less than 15 damage on one part just bandage, ointment, slap the ass. Don't waste any Tricord on something minor. The only chemicals you shouldn't pass on using is Dylovene and Dexalin, because you can't put a brute patch on toxin damage.

These are the little things I feel are most important to any medic worth their salt.

[Mech__Warrior]

• Don't tell people with fractures to get up and walk. Yell at them to Rest or lay down, then move them yourself. If wounds are bandaged you can't rip them by pulling, which is faster than grabbing.
• People often enough rush out only to get fucked up by a Ravager. They deserve it. Don't risk your own life to go try and save some tool baldie.
• They'll teach you in Med school that the little worm icon means someone has a foreign body inside of them. Put two and two together if you watched them get face fucked then see a 'foreign body' indicator above them. It isn't meta if you do it right.
• YELL!ALOT!If some idiot won't stand still for treatment, use your voice and scream at his dumb ass to hold still and get fixed.
• Know your fucking chemicals! If someone has burn damage don't give them Dylovene. The Medic prep has a nifty little sign now that tells you what chemicals do what. Memorize them!
• Stay behind marines during combat. Your job is to heal people, not lead the breach into a nest. If someone receives any injury, no matter how small, treat it how you can! Even a tiny amount of burn damage can paincrit someone after awhile, and can lead to infections. It's best to check for scrapes when they arise and bandage them.
• Ointment OINTMENT OINTMENT!Bandaging a cut is all well and good, but did you know you can actually use ointment on said cut to make it heal faster? Ointment is primarily used for burn damage but you can use it for Brute damage, as well as using bandages for burn damage. If you ran out of Kelotane or the injury is too minor to use it, ointment helps. It's an all around good thing to have.
• Speaking of injuries that are too small for Kelotane, if someone has anything less than 15 damage on one part just bandage, ointment, slap the ass. Don't waste any Tricord on something minor. The only chemicals you shouldn't pass on using is Dylovene and Dexalin, because you can't put a brute patch on toxin damage.

These are the little things I feel are most important to any medic worth their salt.

Ointment/advanced burn kits are also used for early to mid stage infected wounds. The infection ends up causing toxic damage just so you guys know.

Bleeding; Always treat bleeding when you can. Last night, I've seen marines come in with about 70% of their blood still left in them. Blood loss leads to the 'dim vision' often described to you by marines as well as about 20 suffocation damage. If blood bags aren't available, you can encourage the body to produce blood by giving them iron pills and food, or find a proper donor with O- blood and constantly attach them to an IV.

There is also a special medicine out there that I seriously want to create every round I'm a doctor/medic and that is Doctor's Delight. This bad boy is found in Syndi Cakes, and can heal all types of damage. To actually produce it though, you need a booze-o-mat. Tricord, combined with cream, orange juice, tomato juice and lime juice will produce this medical marvel, or that's what it should be in theory. I've never gotten to try it yet.