Overview
This handbook will teach you how to properly play the medic classes, with specific focus on First-Aid (sorry pharmacologists). This guide is built in descending order of the most important things that you need to know, going from first-aid all the way to foraging guide. The information in this guide comes from the Barotrauma wiki and my personal experience.
First-Aid
It is important to be able to recognize when someone needs immediate care, and what to give them. These ailments listed need to be treated first. This section is good to know for any class. Each ailment will have a basic description of what you need to know about the ailment and its treatment/relievment.
Treatments will cure a patient of their ailment, while relievements will temporarily either remove the side effects or stop the increasing of the ailment. The treatments and ailments will be listed by effectiveness from top to bottom, with the most effective solution (accounting for treatment%, side-effects, and ease-of-access). Listed next to each treatment is their treatment%. Listed next to each ailment is their ailment time, telling how long their desired effect works for. For causes and greater details of these afflications, there will be a future section detailing that.
Note: All treatments and relievements will work better with a higher medical skill.
Oxygen Low
Basic Description – This is the main thing that will kill people. Most other afflictions will eventually cause Oxygen Low through the system of Vitality, so if a patient has an affliction bad enough that it causes this, treat that affliction first. Thus, Oxygen Low is the biggest source of primary care that you will encounter. From here, any afflictions that lower Vitality and thus cause Oxygen Low will be noted with [OL].
Treatment/Relievement Desription – Treatments will reduce oxygen low by a specific amount. 125% is the threshold, so if the chosen treatment doesn’t get the subject below that value, more may be needed to get them there. Meth seems to be more effective the further past the threshold the Oxygen Low is, so a possible combo could be Meth (200% – 140%) -> Liquid Oxygenite (140% – 100%). Relievements are specifically related to the Vigor affliction, as any value past 400% will keep a patient alive from Oxygen Low. As long the patient is above 400%, both Hyperzine and Anabolic Steroids will give them 200 seconds of life. Both may be used to get Vigor above or at 400%.
Treatments:
- CPR – Unlimited
- Liquid Oxygenite – 40%
- Methamphetamine 10-60%
Relievements:
- Hyperzine – 0-200 Seconds
- Anabolic Steroids – 120-200 Seconds
Doctor’s Note: Make sure the patient has a diving mask or diving suit on or is in a pocket of air before you treat them. You seriously don’t want to give them treatment for them to just go back into a state of low oxygen. Try to only use CPR, the other treatments are too risky.
Husk Infection [OL]
IMPORTANT NOTE: Without a health scanner HUD, it is impossible to tell if someone has this until it gets to a certain level of infection.
Basic Description – This can and will spread to and kill the rest of your crew if left untreated.
Treatment Description – Each treatment drops this ailment by a specific amount. You need to get it to 0% if you want to cure your patient. Otherwise, it will continue to get worse.
Treatments:
- Calyxanide – 39%
- Broad-spectrum Antibiotics – 12%
Doctor’s Note: Calyxanide is perfect to cure this. However, one dosage will not always do the trick! A good rule of thumb is that if you see the infection above your health bar, you should use two doses. If you want to prevent this in the first place, Broad-spectrum Antibiotics will give a patient temporary resistance to getting this in the first place.
Bleeding [OL]
Description: This will give the patient more and more Bloodloss the longer it stays and the larger it is. It decays on its own.
Treatment Description: Will only fix bleeding on the affected area, so you will need multiple to fix this on multiple body parts.
Treatments:
- Plastiseal – 42%
- Antibiotic Glue – 43%
- Bandage – 18%
Doctor’s Note: If this is a very low amount (<20%), don’t treat it, they can just walk it off. Use Plastiseal only in an emergency, as it is expensive. Use Antibiotic Glue also only in an emergency as it can cause Organ Damage.
Paralysis
Basic Description – Will not kill the patient, but will cause permanent Stun, which is dangerous and renders the patient useless.
Treatment Description – Just use anaparalyzant.
Treatments:
- Anaparalyzant – Full Cure
Doctor’s Note: This is a rare affliction. You can also use anaparalyzant to give a patient resistance to getting this in the first place.
Various Poisons: [OL]
Morbusine Poisoning
Sufforin Poisoning
Delirumine Poisoning
Cyanide Poisoning
Basic Description – Will grow and eventually cause Oxygen Loss. Going to 0% will remove this ailment.
Treatment/Relievement Description – Will be immediately and automatically cured by each antidote. Stabilozine will only prevent the growth of each ailment if only 1 is injected. For every extra Stabilozine injected at the same time, 30% of the ailment will go down.
Treatments:
- Morbusine Antidote – Full Cure
- Sufforin Antidote – Full Cure
- Delirumine Poisoning – Full Cure
- Cyanide Poisoning – Full Cure
Relievements:
- Stabilozine – 30 Seconds
Doctor’s Note: These are only caused by people injecting you with it. Unless you have unruly crewmates or imposters, you should never have to worry about these.
Secondary-Care
This section describes how to treat ailments that do not get worse over time or do not require immediate care. This is most useful for medics, but it would not hurt for other classes to know.
Treatments will cure a patient of their ailment, while relievements will temporarily either remove the side effects or stop the increasing of the ailment. The treatments and ailments will be listed by treatment% from top to bottom, with the most effective solution (accounting for treatment%, side-effects, and ease-of-access). Listed next to each treatment (except opiods) is their treatment%. Listed next to each ailment is their ailment time, telling how long their desired effect works for. For causes and greater details of these afflications, there will be a future section detailing that.
Most secondary care will require the use of opiods, which vary in strength and addiction levels. Use each opiod based on the degree of damage that a patient has. Opium will be your most used drug, as it is the cheapest and most useful option for a lion’s share of situations that you’ll be in. With a health scanner HUD, you can see the % values of each ailment. Use the opiod of choice that best matches the total % value of the patient’s ailments, as you want to save resources and avoid addiction. Each opiod with their % heal value is listed below:
- Pomegrenade Extract – 5%
- Opium – 20%
- Morphine – 50%
- Fentanyl – 75%
Pomegrenade Extract is technically not an opiod, as it is not made from Sea Poppy, nor does it give addiction. That being said, its terrible, do not invest in it, as its lack of effectiveness far outweighs its utility. Be careful with the heavier opiods, as they can cause addiction. Opium is the best of all of these.
Internal Damage [OL]
This includes:
Internal Damage
Blunt Force Trauma
Lacerations
Bite Wounds
Gunshot Wound
Organ Damage
Deep Tissue Injury
Basic Description – The most common form of damage in Barotrauma, treated with the most common form of medicine. At high levels, it will cause Oxygen Low.
Treatment Description – Use and watch it go down. These do not decay or grow, so you can wait for them to become worse before treating them, if you don’t want to waste effectiveness of the treatment.
Treatments:
- Deusizine – 93%
- Opiods
- Hyperzine – 12%
Doctor’s Note: Use opiods for these, as Deusizine is expensive and the utility of Hyperzine is debatable.
Burn [OL]
Basic Description – Another common form of damage. Same effect as internal damage, just has slightly different treatment.
Treatment Description – Opiods can be applied anywhere, while the others need to be used on the affected body part.
Treatments:
- Opiods
- Antibiotic Glue – 43%
- Plastiseal/Bandage – 42%/18%
Doctor’s Note: Opiods will fix this regardless of body part you use them on, as with all opiod treatment. Bandages and Antibiotic Glue will not. Use opiods if you don’t want to waste bandages. Use bandages if you don’t want to waste opiods. Use antibiotic glue if you want to waste your crewmates.
Bloodloss [OL]
Basic Description – Same effect as internal damage. Decays over time.
Treatment Description – Only treat if above 50%, as this ailment decays pretty fast without Bleeding.
Treatments:
- Blood Pack
- Deusizine
- Saline
- Alien Blood
Doctor’s Note: If the patient isn’t bleeding, this heals overtime. Don’t use Deusizine, as it would be a waste of it.
Opiate Addiction
Opiate Withdrawal
Opiate Overdose [OL]
Basic Description – Opiate Withdrawal and Opiate Addiction are side-effects of opiods that are mildly annoying at best. Opiate Overdose can cause Oxygen Low at a high enough level.
Treatment Description – Apply anywhere and these go down. In a critical state of Opiate Overdose (Oxygen Low), treatment should be used immediately, as this is first aid.
Treatments:
- Naloxone – 62%
- Stabilozine – 31%
Doctor’s Note: This goes away over time and doesn’t have any detrimental effects. You should only really treat this if it gets to a total of 60%. A good doctor will never let it get to that point.
Radiation Sickness [OL]
Basic Description – Slowly causes burns over the entire body.
Treatment Description – Get to 0% to remove all effects.
Treatments:
- Antirad – Full Cure
- Stabilozine – 31%
Doctor’s Note: Technically, this should be in first-aid, but you can heal the caused burns until you get proper treatment.
Psychosis
Basic Description – Creates a bunch of auditory and visual hallucinations. Decays on its own.
Treatment Description – Get to 0% to remove all effects.
Treatments:
- Haloperidol – Full Cure
- Deliriumine Antidote – 33%
Doctor’s Note: Unless someone has a serious problem with the effects of psychosis, there is no need to treat this, especially if the patient is under 80%. You can also use ethanol, at the risk (or possibly benefit) of being drunk.
Drunk
Basic Description – Causes visual distortions and movement impairments. Only caused by taking ethanol. Decays over time. At high levels, it will stun the patient, but it can never kill them.
Treatment Description – Leave to decay unless patient is really struggling with its effects.
Treatments:
- Stabilozine – 31%
Doctor’s Note: If a patient is ever at high levels of Drunk or is consistently getting levels of Drunk, they are purposefully drinking away most of your supply of ethanol. It would be helpful to all if you deny them of this privilege by taking away their ethanol.
Space Herpes
Basic Description – Awarded for being a ♥♥♥♥. Slows and causes disorientation to the patient as well as denying them usage of voice and text chat. Decays when Karma increases.
Treatment Description – If you have this, don’t be a ♥♥♥♥! If a patient has this, let them suffer.
Doctor’s Note: Only occurs if “Playing With Friends” is unchecked when starting a server.
High Pressure
Basic Description – Caused by being in pressurized water, which is everywhere outside the ship. Can occur inside the ship if the hulls are breached enough. Will kill the patient very quickly.
Treatment Description – Put a diving suit on. Oftentimes you may already be too late if you see the affliction and there isn’t a diving suit in close proximity.
Treatments:
- Diving Suit
- Combat Diving Suit
- Abyss Diving Suit
Doctor’s Note: I hit the word lim
Afflictions Index
This is the index of afflictions, detailing their effects, cause, decay/growth, strength range, and modifiers. Karma and Vitality, while not afflictions on their own, will be included in this list as they act like them. Afflictions will be listed in alphabetical order.
This section will not provide any actual gameplay tips, just raw data on each affliction. Keep in mind that the wiki doesn’t have all this information, so I have done testing to get a lot of this.
Bite Wounds
Bleeding
Bloodloss
Blunt Force Trauma
Burn
Cyanide Poisoning
Deep Tissue Injury
Deliriumine Poisoning
Disorientation
Drunk
Gunshot Wound
High Pressure
Husk Infection
Husk Infection Resistance
Hyperactivity
Internal Damage
Karma
Lacerations
Morbusine Poisoning
Nausea
Opiate Addiction
Opiate Overdose
Opiate Withdrawal
Organ Damage
Oxygen Low
Paralysis Resistance
Pressure Resistance
Psychosis
Psychosis Resistance
Radiation Sickness
Slow Metabolism
Space Herpes
Stun
Sufforin Poisoning
Vigor
Vitality
Watcher’s Gaze