Landa has Physicians and/or Healers with skills and equipment to deal with the most serious of injuries. Gorean medicine is in many respects very advanced as can be inferred from this page alone. In Landa slaves are rarely needed to deal with casualties except in times of war, raids or during sparring contests...
All kajira remember YOU ARE NOT HEALERS. If an injury requires more than simple treatment i.e. what you have been taught, control the damages as best you can and scream for help. DO NOT attempt to improvise with medicine, stick to what you KNOW and leave the rest to those who know more. A Healer must be found for any injury that goes beyond primary treatment. If you cannot be certain of injury extent, or if in ANY doubt, send for a HEALER.
Slaves are skilled in basic first aid to stabilize the P/patient until a Physcian and/or Healer can be brought in if the injuries call for it. The Basics are divided into several section here. First we will cover the Med Kit, then your basic Medical Serve, other First Aide treatments such as setting broken bones...strains and bruises and basic stitching then we will cover various herbs to help you further the healing along.
So lets start with the Med Kits which are located throughout Landa.
scissors, scalpels, tweezers, cauterizing irons, pliers, trocars(ice pick), chest tubes various sized bosk and tabuk pre threaded needles (the needles are splintered off from the shoulder bone of the beasts) reels of both silk thread and disolvable gut small soft pads of boiled rence cloth bottles of poison antidotes cleaned boiled rence cloth soft cotton pads a tin of willowbark a pot of numbing salve (Tessa powder and lard) a pot of healing salve(green herbal salve) a pot of soothing salve (peppermint salve for pulled muscles...strains etc)) a pot of antiseptic green herbal mix powder a bota of paga a bowl verr skin bags (for cold and hot compresses) Tassa Powder
Now since we understand the med kit lets move on to your typical medical serve.
Here we are going to cover the basics of your healing serve. There are a few general things you will want to keep in mind when your performing healing.
All wounds on Gor heal quickly and Goreans are very rarely ill Bones can heal as fast as 3 days Tendons in as fast as 2 days Bruises in as little as 1 day
All stitches should be checked and cleaned daily and removed after one day
always offer raw willow bark to chew on, acts as an anesthesia; also can give Them willow bark tea or valerian mixed in herbal tea produces the same effect
needles are made of bosk bone sharpened at one end to a point with an eye added in the other
thread is made from silk or animal gut
capture scent acts as an anesthetic when poured in rence cloth and placed over the mouth and nose, making the patient unconscious; tassa powder mixed with red wine produces the same effect
honey promotes healing
add green herbal powder to a bowl of hot paga and use this to clean wounds
chewing the brak bush causes vomiting
fire sticks are made from a metallic stick with a button on the side; when pushed, two flint rocks strike making a small flame
HEAT increases circulation. The application of heat to a still bleeding injury causes the blood vessels in that area to 'dilate' i.e. open. This will increase bleeding. Heat in NEVER applied to an fresh injury, note it is applied for example on a 'sore gut' if one suspects internal bleeding from a blow or a blunt trauma of any kind.
COLD decreases circulation. We have ICE! Use it. The application of ice will have the opposite effect on the blood vessels of the affected area than heat would. It closes up the vessels to 'constrict'. This is why ice is recommended on fresh injuries, it will help control bleeding. If using ice, remember not to apply directly onto the skin, wrap in a cloth. You will ice in the back room of th cooler both chipped and blocked
Blood flow is subject to GRAVITY. In other words, a bleeding hand will likely bleed less if it is raised higher than the organ pumping the blood (aka the heart) It also means that it is best to treat a warrior lying down or reclined back than standing. It also means that when they turn light green and clammy, holding the feet up will help. You see, the feet and hands are NOT vital organs... if the bleeding has been significant enough to affect total volume, you need to make sure the main organs (brain/heart/kidneys etc.) get as much of the flow as possible.
The steps of a basic medical serve
assist the P/patient to the furs if not sure of the wounds inflicted ask, taking careful note of the most serious wounds to be able to treat those first.. if a spar or raid is happening, watch and take careful notes of injuries offer some raw willow bark for the P/patient to chew on remove or cut away any leathers or clothing around the wounds find the need on the list and give the offered solution be very descriptive and list each and every step to ensure the healing will occur the next day, make sure to check on the P/patient, change the dressing on any wound, check for infection
please remember to work together on all healing techniques.. do not openly correct a sister... if it is a big mistake, im and have that slave correct her own mistake.. if it is merely a matter of technique, but the end result is the same, discuss after the emergency
practice time will be given to new slaves
no matter how skilled with medicine, slaves are still slaves and have no right to tell a Free not to spar or restrict in any manner.. instead, suggest the Free consult a Healer and explain why it is important for the Free to rest
remember this is Gor and healing works quickly.. scars disappear and rarely does a P/person die unless planned
if an untrained slave is assisting.. ask the slave to bring water.. hold the head of the Free.. something small, yet fulfilling
Medical Techniques
Stitching vs Suturing
SUTURING is not the same as as stitching. Sutures are not done by a series of continuous in/out of the skin motions with the needle. Each suture is done separately and the thread knotted and cut between each. Sewing a wound closed in one single thread means that if one suture pops, the whole thing unravels...suture deep wounds and tendons with strong stitches followed by mattress stitches to brace the incision line on the surface layer of skin.
Stitching Minor Wounds wounds with herringbone stitches and a finer gut.. making small, even stitches to make a smooth line. Keep stitches closer together.. pulling thread tightly .. tying off at the end. You will use stiching 90 percent of the time as opposed to suturing. below is procedure for doing your stiching and/or suturing.
**If the wound is over a body area that will bend a lot, then after done stitching, add some mattress stitches...to brace the incision line.
1) wash the wound thoroughly with sterile water 2) apply green paga mixture as an anesthetic/disinfectant 3) slaves should receive permission to pull free any knives, quivas or arrows remaining in the wound; careful to check if anything is embedded near major blood vessels; use a soft cloth for pressure if bleeding continues; use the scalpels and tweezers, sterilized in a flame for a few seconds to ensure there are no smaller objects left in any wounds 4) smooth numbing salve to the wound edges 5) Begin to Stitch and/or suture the wound making sure the wound is being drawning closed with tight fine stiching 6) sprinkle green antiseptic healing powder, layer wound with healing salves 7) wrap with fresh bandages and a soft pad for deep wounds.. and leaving surface wounds either uncovered or wrapped in a light gauze
Broken Bones
Now broken bones need to be resetted, splinted and casted. Mind you this is Gor and we must handle these matters in Gorean fashion. Now with setting a broken bone a Free needs to be involved in this as the procedure is very very painful. So do not attempt this on your own. The best thing you can do in this situation is get the P/patient in a recline or lying down position isolate the injury offering ice to ease swelling and constrict blood flow. Willow Bark is very very advisable. Now there are several types of breaks.
Fractures, Dislocations, Sprains and Strains
A fracture is a broken bone. A fracture may occur with or without displacement of the two parts of the broken bone (according to whether the two parts remain in their normal position or not). In some cases, a fracture involving bone breaking anf movement may result in an open wound where the bone may be exposed. This type of fracture is called an compound fracture. Even if you cannot see the bone, if the skin is broken, the injury must be treated as an open fracture. Then you have you basic clean fracture where the bone doesnt break the skin but is broke nonetheless and can usually be felt. Last there are hairline fractures which are hard to detect but aggrivating. A dislocation occurs when a bone moves partway or fully out of its joint. A sprain occurs when the tissues in a joint are stretched beyond their normal range or torn (a very serious injury). A mild sprain is generally known as a strain.
Signs
A fracture, dislocation or sprain may present one or more of the following signs: intense, persistent pain difficulty or inability to move swelling around the injury site deformation or shortening of the injured limb compared to the uninjured one If you see these signs, always treat the injury as a fracture.
Now for broken bones, casts need to be applied to stabilize the limb or part of of body broken. Soak the bosk leather in hot water to soften while setting broken bone/s have ready leather ties for lacing through the pre-set holes in either end of the leather? wrap the body part/limb to be in the cast with several layers of soft rep cloth for padding first as the leather dries.. it does get quit stiff and hard and could quite easily cause sores where it abrades the skin. brace the broken bone/limb.. then carefully wrap the now soft wet leather cast around the arm/leg.. lace the thong through the holes.. draw tight.. but NOT too tight because as the leather dries.. it will shrink and tighten on its own.
Bleeding Injury Care Minor Bleeding
to stop bleeding as quickly as possible by applying direct pressure after sprnkling black pepper atop the wound. When the pressure method works, the bleeding is stopped. This does not mean that absolutely no more blood will escape.
What to Do
Without loosing a second, as soon as you coate the wound with black pepper. place hand directly on the wound with your fingers or the palm of your hand, or, if available and preferably, with a cloth, in such a way as to apply full pressure on the wound which is bleeding. Place a pressure dressing on the wound (Piling cloth and compresses to the wound and securing with a bandage) and knot the bandages securely to maintain pressure. Even if the dressing is soaked with blood, leave it in place so that you don't disturb clot formation. Instead of taking it off, choose to apply another dressing on top of the first, or to apply force with the palm of your hand to increase pressure on the bleeding wound. Avoid over tightening: blood must be able to circulate in the limb. If the fingertips or toes are cold, numb or turning white or bluish, the bandage is cutting off circulation. In such a case, loosen it somewhat. If the wound is on an arm or a leg, elevate limb to reduce blood flow.
Serious Bleeding
if artery is pumping bright red blood at the same rate of the heartbeat, it will need stitching with a very fine curved needle and fine gut-thread wash the wound in sterile water only and NEVER paga heat the fire-stick or a quiva in a flame until it glows white (also known as the * cauterizing iron; brought by black ships from Earth; allowed by the PKs) prepare the P/patient because this is very painful press the heated stick to the wound quickly and count for five seconds remove the stick and make sure the wound is sealed thoroughly apply a thick layer of dried blue short grass salve and healing herbs wrap with fresh, sterile bandages tubers grown in the falls are used to make packs to stop external bleeding by drying, crushing, then mixing them with water to form the pack blood transfusion (see quote); phlebotomy, or drawing blood, is mentioned in Captive of Gor page 93-5 and Fighting Slave of Gor
Shock
Any serious injury to the body, whether a burn or an infection, may result in shock in the the victim. But shock is much more likely to occur with internal bleeding or heavy external bleeding
Shock is a condition in which the blood supply to vital organs is drastically reduced. If the state of shock lasts long, it can result in impaired function of said organs. The aim of treatment is to reestablish adequate circulation. For the first aider, this means controlling bleeding and facilitating the return of blood to lower limbs.
common symptoms include - pale, sweaty, or clammy skin, drop in blood pressure and elevated pulse rate, rapid, shallow respirations, vomiting, chills anxiety
How to Treat
lay the casualty down in a comfortable position, head flat (no pillow), and try to reassure him. Raise feet about a foot. This makes blood return more easily to the heart from the legs. Loosen clothing. Cover with a fur to prevent loss of body heat. Monitor breathing and pulse closely. Keep hovering crowd away, victim needs air, peace and quiet. turn P/patient to the side if vomiting occurs, keeping feet elevated. CAUTION: DO NOT give anything to eat or drink, even if he asks for it