Medicine

You are skilled at tending to the ailments of others.

### Action

Providing first aid, treating a wound, or treating poison is a standard action. Treating a disease or tending a creature wounded by a spike growth or spike stones spell takes 10 minutes of work. Treating deadly wounds takes 1 hour of work. Providing long-term care requires 8 hours of light activity.

1 Table: Actions in Combat states that administering **First Aid** provokes an attack of opportunity and using any skill that uses an action “usually” provokes an attack of opportunity.

### Common Uses

#### Identify Drugs/Pharmaceuticals

**Source**: Technology Guide

The Heal skill is used to identify and understand pharmaceuticals. No further information was provided in the source material.

#### Provide First Aid

You usually use first aid to save a dying character. If a character has negative hit points and is losing hit points (at the rate of 1 per round, 1 per hour, or 1 per day), you can make him stable. A stable character regains no hit points but stops losing them. First aid also stops a character from losing hit points due to effects that cause bleed.

'***Action/'*Time**: 1 standard action.

**Retry?** You can always retry a check to provide first aid, assuming the target of the previous attempt is still alive.

#### Provide Long-Term Care

Providing long-term care means treating a wounded person for a day or more. If your Heal check is successful, the patient recovers hit points or ability score points (lost to ability damage) at twice the normal rate: 2 hit points per level for a full 8 hours of rest in a day, or 4 hit points per level for each full day of complete rest; 2 ability score points for a full 8 hours of rest in a day, or 4 ability score points for each full day of complete rest.

You can tend as many as six patients at a time. You need a few items and supplies (bandages, salves, and so on) that are easy to come by in settled lands. Giving long-term care counts as light activity for the healer. You cannot give long-term care to yourself.

'***Action/'*Time**: 8 hours.

**Retry?** Varies. Generally speaking, you can’t try a Heal check again without witnessing proof of the original check’s failure.

#### Treat Deadly Wounds\*

**Requirement**: You must expend two uses from a healer’s kit to perform this task. You take a –2 penalty on your check **for each use** from a healer’s kit **that you lack**.

When treating deadly wounds, you can restore hit points to a damaged creature. Treating deadly wounds restores 1 hit point per level of the creature. If you exceed the DC by 5 or more, add your Wisdom modifier (if positive) to this amount. A creature can only benefit from its deadly wounds being treated within 24 hours of being injured and never more than once per day.

'***Action/'*Time**: 1 hour.

**Retry?** Varies. Generally speaking, you can’t try a Heal check again without witnessing proof of the original check’s failure.

#### Treat Disease

To treat a disease means to tend to a single diseased character. Every time the diseased character makes a saving throw against disease effects, you make a Heal check. If your Heal check exceeds the DC of the disease, the character receives a +4 competence bonus on his saving throw against the disease.

'***Action/'*Time**: 10 minutes.

**Retry?** Varies. Generally speaking, you can’t try a Heal check again without witnessing proof of the original check’s failure.

#### Treat Poison

To treat poison means to tend to a single character who has been poisoned and who is going to take more damage from the poison (or suffer some other effect). Every time the poisoned character makes a saving throw against the poison, you make a Heal check. If your Heal check exceeds the DC of the poison, the character receives a +4 competence bonus on his saving throw against the poison.

**Action/Time**: 1 standard action.

**Retry?** Varies. Generally speaking, you can’t try a Heal check again without witnessing proof of the original check’s failure.

#### Treat Wounds from Caltrops, Spike Growth, or Spike Stones

A creature wounded by stepping on a caltrop moves at one-half normal speed. A successful Heal check removes this movement penalty.

A creature wounded by a spike growth or spike stones spell must succeed on a Reflex save or take injuries that reduce his speed by one-third. Another character can remove this penalty by taking 10 minutes to dress the victim’s injuries and succeeding on a Heal check against the spell’s save DC.

'***Action/'*Time**: 10 minutes.

**Retry?** Varies. Generally speaking, you can’t try a Heal check again without witnessing proof of the original check’s failure.

### Modifiers

* **Feats** If you have the Self-Sufficient feat, you get a +2 bonus on all Heal checks. If you have 10 or more ranks in Heal, the bonus increases to +4.
* **Equipment** A healer’s kit gives you a +2 circumstance bonus on Heal checks.