How to Role-Play Medical
Introduction
Role-playing injuries is far simpler than one thinks. It can be as straightforward or complex as you choose to make it. A few simple details can help the EMS members establish your injuries and assess you medically leading to greater more exciting roleplay for everyone.
At this time, medical role-play as a standard is fairly limited… taser prongs in the bum, gun shot wounds, and car crashes. All of these things can be fairly involving, if done properly, but in most cases, they are not built upon due to lack of knowledge or fear of making a mistake.
A common misnomer is that all EMS staff in CGN are real world paramedics who will see through your lack of knowledge immediately. This is false. Most of them know as much as you but follow simple guidelines.
Role-playing an injury is simple. We have 3 steps to role-playing an injury. But first, you need to establish the mechanism of the injury…
Traumatic - Car Crash, Gunshot Wound, Fall, Crush, Fight, Drowning.
Non-Traumatic - Heart attack, Bee Sting, Asthma/COPD, Stroke, Heat Exhaustion, Diabetes.
Vitals
A key bit of information for EMS personnel is your Vitals… Blood Pressure, Pulse Rate, and Respiration rate.
An example of normal vitals is here, this can vary, and be varied by the injured party to give EMS an indication of severity of your injuries.
Blood Pressure: systolic over diastolic pressure… or more simply… pressure when the heart contracts to pump, vs relaxed.. So a higher number over a lower one… average is around 120/80
Pulse: 60-100 beats per minute. Trauma typically raises this initially with pain, however with bloodloss it will likely drop.
Respiration Rate: 12-20, loss of consciousness and reduced alertness with lower respiration rate, pain can elevate.
There are 3 major components to role-playing a medical scene:
What happened? - What were you doing at the time? Was the injury Traumatic or Non-Traumatic? Establish the mechanism of injury.
What Symptoms would this result in? - How would this mechanism of injury messed up your stuff?
How do I show this? - How do I represent this level of messed up and express it to the attending EMS personnel?
How it Happened
How it happened is easy… be creative, even.
Non-Traumatic injuries can be great role-play.
In a Dusty environment? Character Asthmatic? Have an Asthma attack!
In the countryside? Get stung by a bee and have an allergic reaction!
Heck, Twist your ankle or have a burst Appendix!.
Traumatic Injuries are fairly easy:
Getting shot
Breaking your leg from a fall,
Getting knocked out and hit something falling
Crash your car
Suck at swimming
Now I’m going to outline some brief examples below, but if you’re unsure, a quick google can easily answer your questions for a great role-play result! Traumatic Injury:
Trauma is caused through invasive mechanisms, like a blunt force impact. Can be from a fall, a fist, a weapon or car crash. These injury types are represented by bruising at its most minor, through to broken bones, internal bleeding and death.
Piercing Trauma - breach of the skin. Caused by a gunshot wound, a stabbing, impalement even. These types of trauma breach the skin and can damage organs and tissue; you were either shot, stabbed, or got stuck on a bit of jagged metal.
Indirect Trauma - Non physical mechanisms that can lead to traumatic injury without a foreign object interaction. - This means something hurt you that wasn’t physical… electricity or fluid - Electrocution and Drowning are key examples.
Non-Traumatic Injury:
Non Traumatic Injuries are a far simpler but equally dramatic mechanism to role-play and can provide exciting events. These can be broad and wide ranging depending on your creativity. Mechanisms typically involve an allergy, or internal preexisting condition leading to a medical emergency.
What Symptoms do these present?
A few examples: Traumatic Injuries:
Blunt Force Trauma: Concussion, broken bones, internal bleeding leading to drowsiness, pain, shock, loss of consciousness and death.
Piercing Trauma: Bleeding, broken bones, internal bleeding and pain, loss of consciousness and death.
Indirect Trauma: depending on mechanism,
Electrocution can be fatal or lead to heart attack, and burns.
Drowning and fluid inhalation can lead to shock, respiratory arrest, loss of consciousness and death.
Fire… A key one to include… obviously burns, smoke inhalation, shock, loss of consciousness, heat trauma.
Non Traumatic Injuries:
Asthma Attack: Tightness of chest, difficulty breathing and disorientation and hypoxic symptoms, skin pallor possible respiratory arrest. Extended attacks can result in muscle pain in the chest.
Heart Attack: Chest pain or discomfort. Chest pain is the most common heart attack symptom. Pain in your arm (Left first), back, neck, or jaw. Dizziness, disorientation and confusion.
Allergic Reaction: Swelling, difficulty breathing, dizziness, disorientation, may be localised to area if sting or external mechanism related, ingestion of foods related to allergy will result in facial and throat swelling that can result in respiratory arrest.
Stroke: Numbness or weakness in the face, arm, or leg, especially on one side of the body. Sudden confusion, trouble speaking, or difficulty understanding speech.Sudden trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance, or lack of coordination.
Heat Exhaustion: Tiredness, Dizziness, lack of sweating, disorientation.
The possibilities for Non-Traumatic injuries is limitless… think of something, a quick google search will give you examples of symptoms, and have at it! Be creative!
How do I roleplay these symptoms?
How would this affect my vitals? Typically if I have bruising or blood loss, my blood pressure may be lower, if I’m in pain, my heart rate would be higher, respiration rate also can be elevated if in pain. Role-play a loss of coordination or consciousness and alertness by allowing your heart rate and respiration rates to drop, indicating to the EMS personnel that you’re getting worse.
Based on the symptoms above how do I roleplay these injuries and their resulting symptoms?
First off… Act! It’s Vinewood darling! This is a roleplay community, and we’re here to roleplay, not get shy and embarrassed about playing our parts… let's have fun.
Key things to remember are what and where you would be hurt… use your head.
Traumatic Injuries are very simple:
Car Crash:
Most common car crash symptoms are blunt force and shock trauma… neck injuries, broken bones and cuts and grazes from broken glass and flying objects Fancy being a bit dramatic?
A piece of metal or the steering column can give you a fun bit of piercing trauma to trap you in the vehicle.
Key aspects to roleplay: Loss of coordination, possible loss of consciousness. Broken bones, pain, bleeding,
Gunshot Wound:
Piercing trauma from a gunshot or stab wound are quite similar.
You’re bleeding, likely lots… possible internal injuries and organ damage.
Maybe even a punctured lung.
As time passes, allow your condition to worsen and reduce responsiveness… allow vitals to degrade.
Falls and crush injuries:
Broken bones, bones may break the sink and result in bleeding.
Entrapment or loss of mobility.
Broken bones… we’ve all had one, extrapolate.
Electrocution:
Have burns, possibly have a heart attack (see below)
Drowning:
Respiratory arrest
Allow the EMS personnel to attempt CPR
Throw them a bone and allow them to bring you back from the dead
Cough and splutter a lot, expect trauma to chest muscles and disorientation
Possible hypothermia (you got very cold)
Fires:
Burns are easy
They hurt, cry and scream.
Smoke inhalation would incapacitate, so cough, loose consciousness.
Non Traumatic Injuries:
Asthma Attack:
Express difficulty breathing, you will typically be quiet
Be disorientated and gasp for breath.
Express pain in the chest and neck.
Heart Attack:
Easiest expression is pain in the left arm followed by chest pain and dizziness
Loss of consciousness if time is extended.
Allergic Reaction:
Is it food? Your face and throat will swell, so difficulty breathing and speaking.
If the reaction is due to external stimuli, bee sting, clothing fibres, plant life and animal bites, localise swelling but similar symptoms may express with time.
Localised pain and difficulty using said limb, or coordinating limbs.
Stroke:
Experience numbness, easiest ‘stroke indicator is with difficulty speaking and localised numbness to one side of the body.
Couple this with disorientation and confusion.
Heat Exhaustion:
Be very lethargic
Slur your words and complain about tiredness and heat.
Pregnancy:
Not an injury, but can be a medical emergency or non emergency call
Female character? Going into labor doesn’t happen much in Chaos Gaming Network… really make the EMS Personnel uncomfortable! (Believe me, I know)
Variety is the spice of life. Creativity is your only limit. EMS personnel in CGN handle taser prongs, gunshots and general car crash trauma all the time. Make them think, and make them learn… try something unusual and throw them a curveball.
Remember, not every case must be severe… not every car crash must involve entrapment and broken bones, feel free to simply have whiplash or some glass cuts or maybe a broken nose from the air bag. Gunshot wounds can sometimes just be a flesh wound that causes pain and no significant medical problems.
Remember, we in CGN love our Fire Department, and we want to show them love. They do tend to get the least Role-play of any department in the community and I would love for us all to change that.
If anyone has any questions pertaining to medical calls… see any member of the Fire Department, or come to me with your questions!!
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