Medical Supplies vs IV Fluids?

[HangarPilot]

What's the difference? Are they used to treat different conditions or is it just player preference (i.e. make Medical Supplies if you have fabric vs make IV Fluids if you have fruit)?

I've always made both (because I don't know the answer to this question) but seeing quite a few posts about not making IV Fluids because the crew is burning through them too quickly.

[Bobucles]

Medical supplies have two major functions:
- stop bleeding. Basically a bandage to prevent wounds from doing more damage.
- Boost healing. A short term buff increases overall healing speed.
Crew can pull out medical boxes to treat themselves. This is very bad because it effectively wastes the entire box. Unfortunately there is no low tech med station, it's beds or self treatment.

IVs are meals. They can be administered while someone is unable to eat, and can thus save them from starving. In reality, crew eat them pretty much whenever, so good luck keeping IVs on hand.

[EurakaLi]

they could make iv fluids weaker but creating more each batch..

[Bobucles]

The only issue with IVs are their rules. The medical bed will schedule IVs when it sees 0 food storage, which is a daily event. So if someone walks in with a scratch and a tummy rumble, they'll snack on an IV.

Crew can not feed meals to each other, so IVs are the only way to feed someone incapable of doing it themselves. That's where the IV can save the day, when someone can't use the kitchen, or can't eat, and ends up starving as a result.