First Aid and Medical – DayZ Wiki

Survival in DayZ isn’t just about food and weapons – it’s about managing your health and treating injuries. This DayZ medical guide will teach you how to heal in DayZ and handle everything from bleeding wounds to deadly infections. Even if you know the basics of inventory and survival, mastering DayZ first aid and medical mechanics is crucial for long-term survival. Read on to learn life-saving techniques and tips in this comprehensive DayZ first aid guide.

Bleeding

Bleeding is one of the most common and dangerous conditions in DayZ. Any attack – whether from a zombie, gunshot, or melee weapon – can cause a bleeding wound, indicated by a blood drop icon. When bleeding, you will continuously lose blood, resulting in blurred vision, color loss, and eventually unconsciousness or death if untreated. Stopping the bleeding quickly is critical to avoid blood loss.

How to Stop Bleeding:

• Bandages: The best option for bleeding wounds. Apply a bandage directly to the wound to stop blood loss. Medical bandages found in clinics are sterile and lower the risk of infection.
• Rags: In a pinch, tear up clothing into rags and use them to bandage yourself. Rags will stop bleeding just like bandages, but they should be disinfected with alcohol or iodine first to reduce infection risk.
• Sewing Kit: You can stitch a wound closed with a sewing kit if no bandages are available. This will stop the bleeding, but using a sewing kit causes extreme pain and has a higher chance of causing a wound infection (especially if the kit isn’t disinfected).
• Other Makeshift Bandages: Items like a bandana can be used similarly to rags. No matter what you use, always sterilize wound dressings when possible. Stopping bleeding is the top priority – you can deal with infections afterwards if necessary.

Tip: After bandaging, keep an eye on your blood level. You can replenish lost blood over time by staying healthy (see Pain and Healing), or use medical gear like Saline IV or a blood transfusion if you’re critically low.

Shock and Unconsciousness

DayZ characters have a Shock stat in addition to health and blood. Shock represents the trauma your body has taken in a short time. A sudden heavy injury (like a gunshot or a high fall) can cause shock loss that knocks you unconscious even if you have blood remaining. Conversely, extreme blood loss can also lead to blackout. When you’re unconscious, you collapse and cannot see, move, or act, though you can still hear faintly. Your screen will be black and your character lies limp, vulnerable to further attacks.

Reviving an Unconscious Player: An unconscious survivor will wake up automatically once their shock value regenerates above the threshold – this usually takes a minute or two if they are no longer taking damage. However, there are ways to help an unconscious friend (or yourself, if you prepare in advance):

• Epinephrine Auto-Injector: This is an adrenaline shot that instantly restores a player’s shock to maximum. Using an Epinephrine on an unconscious player will revive them immediately (as long as they have at least a little blood left in their body). It’s a quick way to get a downed teammate back on their feet during a fight.
• CPR (Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation): If you have no epinephrine, a companion can perform CPR. Approach the unconscious player and use the CPR action to rapidly restore some shock and potentially revive them faster. CPR won’t fix underlying issues, but it can buy time and help them regain consciousness sooner.
• Treat the Cause: Always address what made the player fall unconscious. If they’re bleeding out, bandage them first. If their blood level is critically low, consider giving a Saline IV or a Blood Bag IV transfusion (with the correct blood type) to increase their blood volume. If pain (e.g. from a fracture) is keeping them down, a Morphine injector can reduce shock penalties. Once the underlying problem is dealt with, the survivor is much more likely to wake up and stay awake.

Note: If a player’s blood level is near zero, they may remain unconscious or quickly fall unconscious again even after an epinephrine shot. In such cases, a transfusion or time to naturally regenerate blood (via food and water) is required. Always move an unconscious player to safety if possible, since they are defenseless until they wake.

Broken Bones

Falls, vehicle crashes, or a strong melee hit (like from a heavy blunt weapon or a bear trap) can result in a broken bone (fracture). In DayZ, leg fractures are the most common – if your leg breaks, you will collapse and be forced to crawl. A fractured leg is indicated by a broken bone icon. Attempting to stand or walk with a fresh, unsplinted fracture will cause severe shock damage; in fact, you’ll usually black out after just a few steps on a broken leg. You also cannot run, jump, climb, or even reliably fight while your bone is broken. Essentially, a broken leg leaves you extremely vulnerable until you treat it.

Treating a Fracture: The proper treatment for any broken limb is to stabilize it with a splint. To craft a Splint, combine 2 short sticks with either 4 rags or 1 bandage. Equip the splint and apply it to yourself (or have a friend do it). Once a splint is applied, you will be able to stand up and walk slowly. You still won’t be able to run or jump, but you can move with a limp and even climb over small obstacles. The splint also prevents the fracture from worsening – while the splint is on, you won’t suffer additional shock from walking, and you cannot sustain a second fracture on top of the first.

With a splint, the broken bone will heal over time. Healing a fracture is slow – you need to have high health, full blood, and stay well-fed and hydrated to begin mending the bone. Expect it to take around half an hour (or more) of real time to fully heal a fracture with a splint applied. (Without a splint, it takes roughly twice as long and is extremely risky to move.) During this healing period, avoid combat if possible – any additional trauma can be deadly when you’re already injured.

Pain Management: Moving on a broken leg is painful. To extend how far you can hobble without fainting, you can take painkillers or use morphine. Codeine pills allow about 25% more steps before shock knocks you out, and a Morphine Auto-Injector about 50% more. These medications do *not* heal the fracture, but they can buy you time to find materials or reach safety. Always splint the break as soon as possible – painkillers are only a temporary workaround.

Sickness and Infections

Diseases are a serious threat in DayZ. In the harsh apocalyptic environment, you can catch various illnesses from dirty water, uncooked food, poor hygiene, or close contact with infected survivors. Illnesses can range from annoying (a common cold causing sneezing) to deadly (cholera or wound infections). Below are the most common sicknesses and infections in DayZ, their causes, symptoms, and how to cure them:

• Cholera: A bacterial infection usually contracted by drinking unsafe water from ponds, streams, or contaminated containers. Symptoms include persistent vomiting, dehydration (fast water loss), and blurred vision with fever. Cholera will rapidly drain your hydration and energy due to vomiting. Treatment requires antibiotics – take Tetracycline pills as soon as possible. One pill lasts about 5 minutes, so continue to dose yourself immediately after each pill’s effect wears off until the illness is gone. Combining Tetracycline with Multivitamin pills can help cure cholera faster. If medicine is scarce, you can try to survive cholera by taking small sips of water and bites of food to stay nourished without triggering vomiting, and let your immune system slowly fight it off – but this is risky. Always purify water with chlorine tablets or boil it to prevent cholera.
• Salmonella (Food Poisoning): This illness comes from eating raw or rotten food, drinking with bloody hands, or consuming animal meat that was not cooked properly. It causes bouts of vomiting, which rapidly dehydrates and starves you, along with stomach pain (audible groans and screen blur). To cure salmonellosis, use Charcoal Tablets as soon as symptoms start. Usually 1–3 charcoal pills taken sequentially (one after the other, as each dose wears off) will cleanse the infection. A single multivitamin pill can also cure it. While sick, avoid eating or drinking too much at once – a full stomach will just provoke more vomiting. Instead, stay on the move to find medicine and sip water slowly to stay alive. Prevention: cook all meats thoroughly (especially wild boar or wolf meat, which can carry bacteria even when cooked), and always wash your hands (by combining water with your empty hands) after handling raw bloody meat.
• Common Cold & Influenza: If your character’s temperature stays low for too long (indicated by a cold status icon) or you stay in close proximity to a sick survivor, you can catch a cold. The common cold is the first stage, marked by frequent sneezing (which can give away your position!). If untreated and you remain cold, a common cold can escalate to influenza (flu), which adds coughing, more severe weakness, and can eventually turn into pneumonia (a dangerous third stage that can start to drain health). Luckily, the cold and flu are not usually deadly on their own – but they can make survival harder by sapping your stamina and making you audible to others. To treat a cold or flu, stay warm (build a fire or find warmer clothes) and take medicine: a combination of multivitamins and tetracycline will help your immune system fight off the virus. Just like cholera, you need to take another pill as soon as the previous dose wears off until you’re cured. Also, use Codeine pills to suppress coughs and sneezes by half, which is useful to stay stealthy and comfortable. If you have friends nearby, be careful – your sneezes can infect others within a few meters. Wear a mask if possible, and don’t share drinks or food. Most importantly, keep your body temperature up; a cold will usually clear on its own in about 30 minutes if you stay warm and well-fed.
• Wound Infection: If you treat a bleeding wound with dirty rags or other non-disinfected materials (or if you neglect to bandage at all and let a wound clot on its own), you risk a wound infection. You’ll know you have a wound infection when a germ/virus icon appears after the bleeding is stopped. Early symptoms include your character periodically grunting in pain and slight vision blur. In this initial stage (Stage 1, lasting about 20 minutes), you must act quickly: disinfect the wound to cure the infection. Apply an Alcoholic Tincture, Disinfectant Spray, or Iodine Tincture directly to your wounds (or disinfect a bandage and re-bandage). Successfully disinfecting during Stage 1 will cure the infection. If you fail to treat it in time, the infection moves to Stage 2 – at this point, you’ll develop a high fever, more intense pain (heavy groans and shaking hands), accelerated thirst (from the fever), and you will start losing health at a rate of 2.5 points per minute. In Stage 2, a wound infection becomes life-threatening – without treatment, it will kill you in roughly 30–40 minutes. The only cure in Stage 2 is a full course of Tetracycline antibiotics. Take tetracycline pills continuously (do not let the pill icon disappear) until the infection icon finally goes away. To avoid wound infections entirely, always sterilize your bandages or tools before treating wounds. Carrying a bottle of disinfectant or iodine can save your life after a fight.
• Brain Prion Disease (Kuru): This is a rare disease caused by an unspeakable act: cannibalism. If you consume human flesh or human fat, your character can develop brain prion disease – commonly known as Kuru. The symptoms are unique and unmistakable: your survivor will randomly burst into maniacal laughter and experience body tremors (shaking hands) that make it difficult to aim accurately. There is no cure for Kuru in DayZ. Once you have it, you will continue to have laughing fits and shakes for the rest of that character’s life. The disease itself won’t kill you directly, but the symptoms can give away your position and make combat or stealth much harder. The only way to be rid of it is for your character to die and respawn fresh. In short – don’t eat people, unless you’re truly ready to accept the consequences!

Other diseases and afflictions exist (such as chemical poisoning from gas zones, or blood poisoning from a mismatched transfusion), but the ones above are the most commonly encountered by survivors. The general rule is to pay attention to what you eat and drink, keep wounds clean, stay warm and dry, and boost your immunity by staying healthy. If you do get sick, make sure you have the proper medication on hand or know the nearest hospital location.

Pain and Healing

Survivors can feel pain from injuries even if those injuries aren’t immediately fatal. Pain in DayZ is represented by character grunts, screen shudders or pulses, and unsteady aim. For example, after getting hit by a zombie or shot, your character might occasionally groan and your vision may throb for a moment – these are signs of pain. Severe pain (like from a fractured bone or multiple injuries) can also cause your hands to tremble, making aiming difficult. While pain itself won’t kill you, it can hamper your ability to fight or escape, and it indicates your body is in rough shape.

Managing Pain: The primary way to handle pain is through painkiller medication. Codeine Pills (commonly found in pharmacies) will reduce minor pain, steady your aim, and also have the side benefit of calming coughs and sneezes from illnesses. For more severe pain, such as the agony of a broken leg or multiple gunshot wounds, a Morphine Auto-Injector provides immediate and powerful pain relief. Morphine will stop the screen-shaking from pain and remove the groans, effectively suppressing the pain reaction. Remember, these drugs only mask the pain – they do not heal injuries. Use them to keep functional in combat or while you get to a safe place, but you must still address the actual injury (e.g., splint a leg, bandage wounds).

Natural Healing: Actual healing in DayZ takes time and good nutrition. There are no medkits that instantly restore health. Instead, your body will regenerate blood and health over time as long as you keep your caloric energy and hydration levels up. To heal from any ordeal, make sure your hunger and thirst are satisfied (eat plenty of food and drink water regularly). If you see a “healing” status (a plus icon) on your HUD, it means your blood or health is currently regenerating. Blood regenerates first – once your blood volume is back to normal, your health (the heart icon) will slowly start to recover. This process can take several minutes to even hours depending on how badly hurt you were. You can speed it up by using medical gear: for example, an IV Saline Bag provides a boost to blood recovery (restoring roughly 500 blood over a few minutes) which in turn helps you start healing faster. However, nothing replaces rest and proper nutrition.

After any fight or injury, find a safe spot to recover. Manage any pain so you can react if trouble comes, then focus on getting yourself healthy: eat, drink, and wait. Over time, colors will return to your vision (as blood regenerates) and your overall health will increase, indicated by the health icon filling up. Keeping yourself energized and hydrated is the key to fast recovery. If you have lost a lot of blood, you’ll also want to avoid combat until you regain strength, as you’ll be at a disadvantage (low blood makes you prone to shock and unconsciousness). In short, healing in DayZ requires good food, water, and patience – there’s no shortcut for restoring health.

Medical Gear and Supplies

Throughout Chernarus and Livonia, you can find a variety of medical supplies to help treat injuries and illnesses. Knowing what each item does will help you prioritize what to carry in your medical kit. Below is a list of essential medical gear in DayZ and their uses:

• Bandages & Rags: Used to stop bleeding. Bandages are found in medical locations (often in 4-slot sterile packs) and are the safest way to dress a wound. Rags can be crafted by tearing clothes and used similarly – just disinfect them first if possible. Always have some form of bandage or clean rag on you to treat bleeding wounds immediately.
• Disinfectants (Alcohol, Iodine, etc.): Items like Alcoholic Tincture, Iodine Tincture, or Disinfectant Spray are used to sterilize wounds and bandages. Apply disinfectant to rags/bandages or directly to an open wound to prevent or cure infections. They are critical for avoiding wound infection when treating bleeding. Just a small amount can disinfect multiple cloth items. Keep one in your kit to ensure any bandaging you do is done with clean materials.
• Sewing Kit: Primarily used for repairing damaged clothing, a sewing kit can also be used to stitch up wounds as an emergency method to stop bleeding. Using it on yourself will close all bleeding cuts but causes considerable pain and has a high chance to inflict a wound infection (especially if the kit isn’t disinfected first). Use only if you have no bandages or rags – otherwise, stick to proper bandaging. (Note: A Leather Sewing Kit works the same way for wounds.)
• Splint: A splint is a crafted item used to stabilize a broken bone. Combine 2 short sticks with 4 rags (or a bandage) to craft one. Once applied to a broken leg, a splint will allow you to move around slowly and prevent further shock from the injury. It’s an essential item if you or a squadmate suffers a fracture. Pro-tip: craft a splint in advance and keep it in your backpack if you have space; it can be a lifesaver during a long trek or firefight where medical supplies are limited.
• Codeine Pills: Basic painkillers used to relieve pain and discomfort. Taking codeine will reduce screen-shake from pain and quiet your character’s pain noises. It also halves the frequency of coughs or sneezes if you’re sick, making it useful when dealing with a cold or flu. Its effects are milder and shorter-lasting than morphine, but codeine is more common and can be stacked (multiple pills in a bottle). Use it for moderate injuries or when you need to stay low-profile despite being hurt or ill.
• Morphine Auto-Injector: A powerful opioid painkiller in an injectable form. Morphine provides immediate relief from severe pain and shock. It’s particularly useful for combat situations – for example, if your leg is broken or you’re badly shot, a morphine shot will stop your character from limping and shaking for a short time, allowing you to move to safety or continue fighting. Be aware that morphine doesn’t heal you or fix a broken bone; it just numbs the pain. Always follow up by properly treating the injury (such as applying a splint). Morphine injectors are found in military or medical locations and are highly valuable in emergencies.
• Epinephrine Auto-Injector: An adrenaline shot used to jolt a player back to consciousness. Epinephrine instantly maxes out the player’s shock value, which will wake up an unconscious person if administered in time. It also temporarily gives a stamina boost (helping you run at full tilt right after using it). This is a must-have for group play – if your buddy gets knocked out, an Epi-pen can bring them back immediately. Even for solo players, having one means you could potentially revive yourself if you fall unconscious from shock (by quickly regaining consciousness and using it, although this is very situational). Keep in mind that epinephrine won’t help if you’re unconscious due to extremely low blood – that requires a blood replenishment – but for most knockouts from combat, it’s perfect.
• Tetracycline Pills: A broad-spectrum antibiotic, and your go-to cure for bacterial infections. Tetracycline cures cholera, treats pneumonia (advanced flu), and cures wound infections once they reach Stage 2. Each pill’s effect lasts about 5 minutes, so curing an illness usually requires taking several pills in a row (don’t wait for the sickness to worsen – keep the medicine active continuously). You cannot overdose on tetracycline in DayZ, so focus on keeping the “pill” icon active until your sickness icon disappears. These pills are common in hospitals and clinics. Every survivor should try to have a pack of tetracycline on them, as it’s the only thing standing between you and death if you catch something like cholera.
• Charcoal Tablets: Activated charcoal pills used to treat poisoning. If you eat or drink something toxic – whether it’s raw/rotten food causing Salmonella or even accidentally consuming gasoline or a poisonous substance – charcoal tablets will absorb the toxins and cure the poisoning. They are the cure for Salmonellosis (food poisoning); typically 2–3 tablets taken one after another will flush out the bacteria. These are found in medical centers and are life-savers if you’ve been careless with your food. Keep a few on hand if you plan to hunt and eat wild animals or if you’re unsure about the safety of what you ingest.
• Multivitamin Pills: A bottle of multivitamins provides a temporary boost to your immune system. Taking a multivitamin sets your immunity to max for a short duration, helping you resist infections or recover from them more quickly. Multivitamins can outright cure the common cold or Salmonella on their own, and they assist in fighting off cholera. They are most useful as a preventative measure – for example, if you must drink from a suspect water source or eat slightly undercooked food, popping a multivitamin first can often prevent any illness. They’re also great to take alongside antibiotics for a one-two punch against diseases. Since they are small and common, there’s little reason not to carry multivitamins in your kit.
• Saline IV Bag: A saline solution used for intravenous therapy. By itself, a Saline Bag can’t be used until it’s combined with an IV Start Kit, creating an IV Saline Bag ready for transfusion. Administering a saline IV will not instantly fill your blood, but instead gives you a rapid blood regeneration boost (recovering about 500 mL of blood over 3 minutes) and also slightly hydrates you. Saline is compatible with all blood types (no risk of reaction), making it a universally safe way to treat blood loss. Use saline on a severely injured ally to help them recover blood and wake from unconsciousness faster, or on yourself if you’re blinking red blood and need a quick buffer. It’s also useful for treating dehydration in an emergency.
• Blood Bag & Transfusion Kit: To restore large amounts of blood quickly, you can perform a blood transfusion. You’ll need a Blood Collection Kit to draw blood from a donor (which fills a blood bag with 500 mL of their blood), and an IV Start Kit to convert it into an IV Blood Bag. Transfusing this blood to a patient will instantly give them ~500 units of blood. However, blood transfusions carry risk: you must use compatible blood types. Every character has a blood type (e.g. O+, A-, etc.). Using the wrong type will cause a dangerous hemolytic reaction that can quickly kill the recipient. Always test blood types with a Blood Test Kit or stick to the universal donor (O-). Despite the complexity, blood bags are extremely useful – they effectively allow you or a teammate to “store” blood for later. In a tough firefight, having a prepared blood bag of your own blood type can mean the difference between getting back in action or fading out. Use saline first if unsure, but for a full restore, a blood bag transfusion is king.

Having a well-stocked medical supply and the knowledge to use it is a game-changer. Prioritize carrying bandages (or disinfected rags), a couple of each critical medicine (painkillers, tetracycline, charcoal, multivitamins), and if you have room, a saline bag or blood collection kit with a tested blood bag. In DayZ, every second counts when you’re hurt or sick – being prepared means you can address issues immediately, keep yourself alive, and even save your friends. With this medical guide, you should now have a solid understanding of how to heal in DayZ and handle any first aid situation that comes your way. Stay safe, stay healthy, and good luck out there, survivor!