Magic & Support Reserves, the Preserve, Wednesday Afternoon
"Hi," Dolf started, waving at everyone before any of his fellow leaders had a chance to really get a word in. (It wasn't that he was trying to be first, but he'd gotten the hang of it a little, last week, and-- well, it was just easy by now, to take point when he could.) "So today we want to talk about being sick. Other people being sick, and being sick ourselves. It can happen that sometimes someone just gets sick and passes it on to everyone else, and then people start dying. Sometimes at the worst possible moments. We have to be prepared, if it happens, to do the necessary things."
He looked pretty serious about the whole thing, too. He still remembered the outbreak at the children's camp, over two months ago. "If a sickness is contagious, then we need to seperate the sick," he continued, "Find a comfortable camping place. Don't deal with them without putting something over your mouth. Burn their things if they die or go away so the sickness doesn't jump to anyone else. Wash a lot." He took a deep breath. "Of course every sickness is its own thing. Sometimes people are very warm, burning. They need to be cooled, until it stops. With water. Good food and water for everybody anyway. Sometimes people cough, then you really have to make sure you have something for your mouth. They can have problems walking, or their tongues can turn strange colours, or they'll get spots-- different sicknesses, some dangerous, some not."
"It used to be different, and maybe it's different for some of you, still. This time is very clean, so sickness that used to kill doesn't, anymore. We learned to separate people and look after them. That's what we are trying to teach you now. To recognise sickness, and to take care of it." Which was about where he'd realised he'd just set in and started talking, so he fell silent and looked to the other leaders.
Karla was happy to pick up where Dolf had left off. "Keeping everything as sterile as we can is key," she added. "Anything that has come in touch with infected fluids or tissues needs to be burned, bleached, or boiled before it is used again. If we're not yet sure what is causing the illness, boiling water for a goodly amount of time before drinking it is important: there are many diseases that travel in water. Fevers can kill if they get high enough, so watching someone's temperature might mean the difference between life and death. You don't need to be a doctor or a Healer to help combat sickness. You just need to be careful and smart."
"You should also," Tara added, "make sure sick people are eating and drinking, if they can keep anything down at all. Toast is good, and tea or ginger ale. Orange juice. Chicken soup. Bananas. There's a reason they call it comfort food, right? If you have access to any drugs, you could give them some penicillin if it's the right kind of infection, or Tylenol to bring a fever down. Just be careful 'cause it won't work on everything, and some people will be allergic to it. "
Which reminded her of another point. "Remember not everyone in Fandom has a totally human biology, so don't do anything if you aren't sure it's safe."
"And keeping the spirits up of someone who is ill is very important as well," Raven said. "They may be upset or frightened, and they will need someone to talk to or just a hand to hold. Tending to their emotional needs can be as critical as their physical ones."
Dolf had been nodding along with all of that. Once silence fell, he started to speak again. "Today we'll work on recognising signs and dealing with them," he said, earnestly. "We have a list of possible symptoms. Find a friend, and one of you will pretend to have symptoms, and the other should deal with it. And you can add new symptoms, if you can think of others."
He looked pretty serious about the whole thing, too. He still remembered the outbreak at the children's camp, over two months ago. "If a sickness is contagious, then we need to seperate the sick," he continued, "Find a comfortable camping place. Don't deal with them without putting something over your mouth. Burn their things if they die or go away so the sickness doesn't jump to anyone else. Wash a lot." He took a deep breath. "Of course every sickness is its own thing. Sometimes people are very warm, burning. They need to be cooled, until it stops. With water. Good food and water for everybody anyway. Sometimes people cough, then you really have to make sure you have something for your mouth. They can have problems walking, or their tongues can turn strange colours, or they'll get spots-- different sicknesses, some dangerous, some not."
"It used to be different, and maybe it's different for some of you, still. This time is very clean, so sickness that used to kill doesn't, anymore. We learned to separate people and look after them. That's what we are trying to teach you now. To recognise sickness, and to take care of it." Which was about where he'd realised he'd just set in and started talking, so he fell silent and looked to the other leaders.
Karla was happy to pick up where Dolf had left off. "Keeping everything as sterile as we can is key," she added. "Anything that has come in touch with infected fluids or tissues needs to be burned, bleached, or boiled before it is used again. If we're not yet sure what is causing the illness, boiling water for a goodly amount of time before drinking it is important: there are many diseases that travel in water. Fevers can kill if they get high enough, so watching someone's temperature might mean the difference between life and death. You don't need to be a doctor or a Healer to help combat sickness. You just need to be careful and smart."
"You should also," Tara added, "make sure sick people are eating and drinking, if they can keep anything down at all. Toast is good, and tea or ginger ale. Orange juice. Chicken soup. Bananas. There's a reason they call it comfort food, right? If you have access to any drugs, you could give them some penicillin if it's the right kind of infection, or Tylenol to bring a fever down. Just be careful 'cause it won't work on everything, and some people will be allergic to it. "
Which reminded her of another point. "Remember not everyone in Fandom has a totally human biology, so don't do anything if you aren't sure it's safe."
"And keeping the spirits up of someone who is ill is very important as well," Raven said. "They may be upset or frightened, and they will need someone to talk to or just a hand to hold. Tending to their emotional needs can be as critical as their physical ones."
Dolf had been nodding along with all of that. Once silence fell, he started to speak again. "Today we'll work on recognising signs and dealing with them," he said, earnestly. "We have a list of possible symptoms. Find a friend, and one of you will pretend to have symptoms, and the other should deal with it. And you can add new symptoms, if you can think of others."