First Aid Skill

First Aid

Class	Skills
Type	Skill
Skill Group	Survival
Max Level	10
Total XP	32,775
Skill Books	First Aid Skill Books
Best Occupation	Doctor (+6)

The First Aid Skill governs treating injuries. It shows more detail about each wound and raises the quality of medical treatment. It belongs to the Survival group.

Injuries are a constant threat in a long run. Scratches, lacerations, deep wounds, burns and broken bones all need treatment. A skilled medic works faster, makes bandages last longer and helps fractures heal much sooner. The skill also helps judge how serious a wound or infection is. Zombie infection from a bite or scratch runs its own course at any skill level. The Doctor starts with by far the most First Aid skill. The Nurse starts with a solid head start, and the Park Ranger starts with a small one.

How to Level First Aid

First Aid experience comes from medical actions. Treating injuries on the character or on other survivors both count.

Each treatment gives a set amount of experience. Applying a bandage gives a little. Cleaning a burn gives more. Removing glass, stitching a wound and applying a splint each give a good amount. Removing a bullet gives the most of all.

Training is tied to getting hurt, so progress is slow. In multiplayer, treating other players is a steady way to gain experience.

The tapes Combat Wound Management, Emergency First Aid and Rosewood Medical First Aid each give a good boost. Watching only pays off in the first three levels, unless experience spills over from a level-up.

The Fast Learner trait raises the experience rate to 130 percent. The Slow Learner trait lowers it to 70 percent.

Skill books matter more here than for most skills. Training comes slowly, so every boost counts. Read the matching volume early, before the next injury, so every bandage applied earns its full worth. Tapes help in the first levels, while books carry the skill further.

Every real injury is a chance to learn. Treat each wound fully, step by step, rather than leaving it for later. Cleaning, stitching and bandaging a single deep wound gives far more experience than a bandage alone.

The XP each First Aid level asks for, with the running total from level 0.

Level	XP Needed	Total XP
1	75	75
2	150	225
3	300	525
4	750	1,275
5	1,500	2,775
6	3,000	5,775
7	4,500	10,275
8	6,000	16,275
9	7,500	23,775
10	9,000	32,775

First Aid Level Effects

Each level makes medical actions faster. Bandages and poultices last longer before they need changing. At level 10, a bandage lasts two and a half times as long as at level 0.

Fractures heal much faster at higher levels. At level 0, a broken bone heals at half the normal speed. Each level adds a large boost, and a level 10 medic heals fractures several times faster. A splinted fracture also slows combat and running less at higher levels.

Higher levels show more about each wound. The health panel gives a clearer picture of how severe a wound is and whether it is infected.

Splints work better with more skill. Being well fed adds its own boost to the healing of injuries on top of that.

A bandage is what speeds the healing of scratches and lacerations, at any level. The skill makes each bandage stay clean for longer and each treatment go faster. That difference matters on a long run with few clean bandages to spare.

A skilled medic also helps a group. Bandages applied by a high-level medic last longer before they get dirty. In multiplayer, one trained medic can keep a whole group patched up.

Good treatment follows a set order. Open the health panel first and find each injury. Treat heavy bleeding before anything else. Then disinfect the wound and apply a clean bandage.

Bandages turn up in bathrooms, clinics and first aid kits. Ripped Sheets work as emergency dressings when nothing better is around. Sterilised bandages keep a wound from getting infected and help fight an infection already there. Dirty bandages raise the chance of infection, so wash or replace them. A dirty bandage can be washed with clean water, then sterilised with disinfectant, bourbon or boiling water.

Glass and bullets must come out before a deep wound can heal. Stitch the wound afterwards with a needle and thread or a suture needle. Burns heal more slowly than other wounds and need patience.

Painkillers ease pain, while bandages and stitches treat the wound itself. A zombie bite leads to death on default settings, whatever the treatment. Food and rest keep healing on track.

First Aid Skill Books

The First Aid Skill Books come in five volumes. Each volume speeds up experience for two levels. First Aid I: "A Scouts Injury Guide" covers the first two levels. First Aid V: "Surgical Techniques of the Operating Room" covers the last two. Reading each volume just before its levels gives the most benefit.

The five volumes, the levels each one speeds up, the XP bonus while those levels are trained, and how long each takes to read. Reading times are game time at the default two minutes a page. Sitting down and wearing Reading Glasses each cut the time by a tenth, the Fast Reader trait cuts it by about a third, and Slow Reader adds a third.

Volume	Levels	XP Bonus	Pages	Read Time	Spawn ID
First Aid I: "A Scouts Injury Guide"	1 to 2	x3	220	7 h 20 min	`/additem Base.BookFirstAid1`
First Aid II: "Bandaging and Suturing"	3 to 4	x5	260	8 h 40 min	`/additem Base.BookFirstAid2`
First Aid III: "Emergency Paramedics Manual"	5 to 6	x8	300	10 h	`/additem Base.BookFirstAid3`
First Aid IV: "Gray's Anatomy of the Human Body"	7 to 8	x12	340	11 h 20 min	`/additem Base.BookFirstAid4`
First Aid V: "Surgical Techniques of the Operating Room"	9 to 10	x16	380	12 h 40 min	`/additem Base.BookFirstAid5`

Set of First Aid Books bundles all five volumes in one item and unpacks into them.

Item	Image	Spawn ID
Set of First Aid Books		`/additem Base.BookFirstAidSet`

First Aid Starting Levels

The Doctor begins with six levels of First Aid. That start makes fractures heal quickly and bandages last much longer from the first day. The Nurse begins with three levels, and the Park Ranger begins with one. The First Aider and Former Scout traits each add one level.

A good start matters because the skill is slow to train. A medic in a group helps every survivor heal faster.

These occupations and traits start a character with levels in First Aid.

Name	Type	Levels	Points
Doctor	Occupation	+6	0
Nurse	Occupation	+3	0
First Aider	Trait	+1	-2
Former Scout	Trait	+1	-6
Park Ranger	Occupation	+1	-4

Notes

Bandage scratches and lacerations at once, since untreated wounds stay open.
Remove glass and bullets before stitching a deep wound; tweezers or forceps cause less pain.
Splint a broken limb, then add a comfrey poultice to speed up healing.
Disinfect wounds with disinfectant, bourbon or alcohol wipes to prevent infection.
Watch zombie scratches and lacerations for a day, since they can still carry the infection.

All Character Categories

All Skills

Skill	Type	Total XP	Spawn ID
Axe	Skill	32,775	`/additem Base.Axe_Old`
Long Blunt	Skill	32,775	-
Short Blunt	Skill	32,775	-
Long Blade	Skill	32,775	-
Short Blade	Skill	32,775	-
Spear	Skill	32,775	-
Maintenance	Skill	32,775	-

Skill	Image	Type	Total XP
Aiming		Skill	32,775
Reloading		Skill	32,775

Skill	Type	Total XP
Carpentry	Skill	32,775
Carving	Skill	32,775
Cooking	Skill	32,775
Electrical	Skill	32,775
Glassmaking	Skill	32,775
Knapping	Skill	32,775
Masonry	Skill	32,775
Blacksmithing	Skill	32,775
Mechanics	Skill	32,775
Pottery	Skill	32,775
Tailoring	Skill	32,775
Welding	Skill	32,775