Bitter Springs Infirmary Blues is an NCR side quest in Fallout: New Vegas.
Quick walkthrough[]
| Side Quest: Bitter Springs Infirmary Blues | |||||||||||||
| Speak with Cpt. Gilles about helping Bitter Springs. | |||||||||||||
| Speak with Lt. Markland in the infirmary tent. | |||||||||||||
| Find and bring 3 doctor's bags to Lt. Markland. | |||||||||||||
| Locate a source of psychological and pediatric training for Lt. Markland. | |||||||||||||
| Purchase medical textbooks from Blake at the Crimson Caravan Company. | Recruit Arcade Gannon as a companion. | ||||||||||||
| Return to Lt. Markland. | |||||||||||||
| Reward:200 XP NCR fame Karma gain (optional) 2 stimpaks, 4 Rad-X, 4 RadAway (optional) 40 caps | |||||||||||||
Detailed walkthrough[]
At the refugee camp at Bitter Springs east of New Vegas, talking with the commander of the NCR garrison, Captain Gilles will trigger both No, Not Much and this quest in order to start improving the situation around Bitter Springs that has caused its flag to fly upside down. She sends the player character to talk with Lieutenant Markland, the only doctor on staff that manages the overwhelmed camp infirmary.
Speaking with Markland leads to him requesting additional supplies of medical tools as well as a source of knowledge on psychological and pediatric treatment, which he as a field medic lacks.
Medical resupply[]
Resupplying the Bitter Springs infirmary requires finding at least 3 doctor's bags. The item is relatively abundant, if expensive, and can be purchased from most traders or crafted at a workbench. Doctor's bags can also be found in various locations throughout the Mojave Wasteland; fixed locations can be found on the relevant article.
Finding sources of knowledge[]
Medical textbooks[]
The quest marker to find medical textbooks will lead to Blake at the Crimson Caravan Company, at a small stall outside the main office. Although talking to Blake at any time will allow you to trade with him (even while he is in the barracks, asleep), the books are only sold while Blake is standing in his outdoor shop, roughly between 6:00am and 10:00pm. The books each have a base value of 20 caps, not counting price changes due to one's Barter skill level) and are identified as Tiny, Tiny Babies: All You Need to Know About Pediatric Medicine and Stress and the Modern Refugee: A Primer.
If one cannot buy the books, they can also be stolen as well, being physical objects found on the shelves of Blake's outdoor shop:
- Tiny, Tiny Babies is located on the bottom shelf to the left of Blake, between two cartons of cigarettes and four bottles of whiskey.
- Stress and the Modern Refugee is located on a shelf to the right of Blake, behind two ammunition containers and above a shelf containing three first aid boxes.
Both books look identical to the green-covered variety of pre-War books.
Medical training[]
An unmarked option is available where, if Arcade Gannon is an active companion, a unique dialogue option is available in which one can offer to have the Follower doctor teach Markland the proper medical protocols. Once chosen, the screen fades to black and four in-game hours pass, after which Markland will be fully trained and will not require the texts from Blake.
Once the infirmary has been resupplied and the Lieutenant has gained the required medical knowledge, Markland will offer a reward and complete the quest, with three options:
- Decline any reward: This will earn positive Karma.
- Accept surplus supplies: This will earn additional aid items of 2 stimpaks, 4 Rad-X, and 2 RadAway.
- Demand a reward: This will earn the additional aid items as above as well as a bonus of 40 caps to cover expenses.
- One has the option to demand further reward after the third choice, which will gain another 100 caps and negative Karma.
Quest stages[]
Notes[]
- It is possible to fail this quest before starting. If one has triggered Boone's companion quest, I Forgot to Remember to Forget before completing any of the Bitter Springs quests, the legionnaires that attack the refugee camp may end up attacking and killing the NCR troopers as well, including Markland.
- Completing We Are Legion for Dead Sea at Nelson will not fail this quest but will prevent it from being started.
Behind the scenes[]
The quest name is a reference to the American folk song "St. James Infirmary Blues," also known as "Gambler's Blues" that was popularized by Louis Armstrong's 1928 recording.
Bugs[]
If you have the books in your possession but select the option to have Arcade Gannon train Markland, the books will still be removed from your inventory.[verified]-
If this is the first time that you are trading with Blake, it is advisable to buy ONLY the two books that Markland requires, because buying other items at the same time may cause the game to crash [if it does, it will crash IMMEDIATELY after the trade is completed]. [verified] - Having more than one of each required books in the inventory (2 "Stress and the Modern Refugee: A Primer" books in inventory, for example), by using console commands, may bug the quest, by not showing the proper dialogue options with Lieutenant Markland to give him the books and progress the quest. The bug can be fixed by removing the excess books from the inventory using console commands.
