Content Suggestion Allow people to use Infection Test Kits on themselves

[Zen]

What does this suggestion change/add/remove:
Add a button to use Infection Test Kits on yourself, rather than just on other people.

Has something similar been suggested before? If so, why is your suggestion different?:
Not to my knowledge.

Possible Positives of the suggestion (At least 2):

• Makes genuinely no sense that you can't
• It's annoying when you don't have anyone around to use the test kit on you so you just have to sit there and be completely useless because you're somehow fully trained on how to use this thing, but are unable to just turn it around and use it on yourself.

Possible Negatives of the suggestion:

• 008 balance (lmao)

Based on the Positives & Negatives, why should this suggestion be accepted:
This is just a minor QoL improvement for people with access to these.

 

[Emilia Foddg]

+Major Support
Gonna be denied for reducing roleplay with people not using testing kits on each other Like, I get maybe for the things that aren't 008, like vCraft illnesses and such, where its encouraged to have other people test you for what illness you have; But most of the time if a medic falls ill or smth, usually it ends up that they:

• Can easily tell what illness they have and just drink the requisite chem to get rid of it anyway - Or otherwise just drink medicinal chems until they get rid of their illness via trial and error
  
  
• Are in medbay and just use the big illness scanner on themselves, then drink the required chem
  
  
• ECT themselves or die some otherway

It's honestly not worth it - Maybe I can see a case for non-medical jobs? Like CL4s getting the CL4 testing kit from a dispenser? But CL4s are expected to be generally creating RP around the site anyway and vCraft illnesses tend to impede/interrupt that more than they create it - And IIRC, only medical jobs (and E-11 biohazard) get testing kits in their loadouts by default. ...Like, I'm really trying to see it, but the best argument against this is probably AO? LIke - Just let us use the testing kit on ourselves please It's a little silly.

 

[Zen]

+Major Support
Gonna be denied for reducing roleplay with people not using testing kits on each other Like, I get maybe for the things that aren't 008, like vCraft illnesses and such, where its encouraged to have other people test you for what illness you have; But most of the time if a medic falls ill or smth, usually it ends up that they:

• Can easily tell what illness they have and just drink the requisite chem to get rid of it anyway - Or otherwise just drink medicinal chems until they get rid of their illness via trial and error
  
  
• Are in medbay and just use the big illness scanner on themselves, then drink the required chem
  
  
• ECT themselves or die some otherway

It's honestly not worth it - Maybe I can see a case for non-medical jobs? Like CL4s getting the CL4 testing kit from a dispenser? But CL4s are expected to be generally creating RP around the site anyway and vCraft illnesses tend to impede/interrupt that more than they create it - And IIRC, only medical jobs (and E-11 biohazard) get testing kits in their loadouts by default. ...Like, I'm really trying to see it, but the best argument against this is probably AO? LIke - Just let us use the testing kit on ourselves please It's a little silly.

I wouldn't be surprised, but forcing people to go to other randoms to ask "can you pick this up and click on me" because you can't do it on yourself isn't RP, that's just adding extra steps for no reason.

 

[Zourk]

+Support

If we're really worried about balance, make the self test take 3x as long to run. Otherwise, huge QOL for a part of the server that is more a nuisance for many.

 

[Abu Muhammad]

so you're clear. here's the shorter version:

Under widely recognized multinational medical standards — including guidelines upheld by the American Medical Association, the British Medical Association, and equivalent licensing bodies across Europe, Asia, and beyond — self-treatment is considered a serious breach of professional conduct. The fundamental problem is the collapse of clinical objectivity: a provider cannot neutrally assess their own symptoms, cannot give themselves genuine informed consent, and is statistically far more prone to denial, bias, and delayed intervention than they would be with any other patient. Most jurisdictions explicitly prohibit physicians from self-prescribing controlled or regulated substances, and strongly discourage self-management of any condition beyond minor, self-limiting illness. In numerous countries, documented self-treatment of a serious condition — or treatment conducted without an independent supervising provider — can constitute grounds for formal disciplinary review, license suspension, or professional censure, placed in the same category as treating immediate family members without proper documentation or oversight. The baseline standard recognized across virtually all medical ethics frameworks is unambiguous: every clinician should maintain a separate, independent primary care relationship, and must recuse themselves from their own care the moment the condition exceeds what they would safely manage without referral


therefore this would be failrp, -support big red

 

[ArcherOfLegend]

so you're clear. here's the shorter version:

Under widely recognized multinational medical standards — including guidelines upheld by the American Medical Association, the British Medical Association, and equivalent licensing bodies across Europe, Asia, and beyond — self-treatment is considered a serious breach of professional conduct. The fundamental problem is the collapse of clinical objectivity: a provider cannot neutrally assess their own symptoms, cannot give themselves genuine informed consent, and is statistically far more prone to denial, bias, and delayed intervention than they would be with any other patient. Most jurisdictions explicitly prohibit physicians from self-prescribing controlled or regulated substances, and strongly discourage self-management of any condition beyond minor, self-limiting illness. In numerous countries, documented self-treatment of a serious condition — or treatment conducted without an independent supervising provider — can constitute grounds for formal disciplinary review, license suspension, or professional censure, placed in the same category as treating immediate family members without proper documentation or oversight. The baseline standard recognized across virtually all medical ethics frameworks is unambiguous: every clinician should maintain a separate, independent primary care relationship, and must recuse themselves from their own care the moment the condition exceeds what they would safely manage without referral


therefore this would be failrp, -support big red

Counterpoint: The way you obtain your medical license has zero backing in any medical world, hence, you are not a licensed clinician and therefore are not liable.

+Soup

 

[Skittles]

+support if there's a chance that doing it on yourself takes a fair bit longer AND there's a risk of false positive / false negative. Would add an aspect that highly encourages seeking other people to do it for you, plus it would be mad funny to get a false negative for 008 infection.

EDIT: Self-diagnosing with the infection scanner should display as Google AI Summary. The good news is: it knows what you have. The bad news is: it's telling you to eat a pink candy from 330. It'll cure you alright, and you'll never get an illness again!

 

[Cain Morris]

-Support, just go to medical, not that hard. This would take away from interactions with others in character.

 

[Zen]

-Support, just go to medical, not that hard. This would take away from interactions with others in character.

This suggestion was primarily for medical. Instead of them having to go grab a random other doctor to check themselves for a common cold or whatever, they can just scan themselves. Or during an 008 breach, people can actually check themselves instead of having to go around and find another CL4/whatever during a code 3.

 

[Vxnt]

-Support

This just steals RP. Interact with others.

 

[Avery Snow]

I see no need.
-Support

 

[Zen]

-Support

This just steals RP. Interact with others.

Right. Because there's so much RP to be had as a Combat Medic when you want to check if the illness you randomly gained in the depths of HCZ is a common cold or something else, but have to instead go to the opposite end of the map to find someone else to press a button on you instead. Or for an ECA needing to check if they caught 008 during a breach, and so they need to go find some other random CL4 in the chaos just to check themselves (they will die if they attempt this).