Health

"No shame kid, I would have pissed my pants too, but if we don't find you some first aid, you aren't gonna survive another hit like that."

- Bill Health is the hit point total that governs the survivability of the Survivors in Left 4 Dead. All Survivors begin with a total of 100 health at the start of every campaign, and when they complete a chapter their health will be saved for the next one. In Versus the Survivors will always begin a chapter at full health.

As the Survivors receive damage, their health decreases. When a Survivor's health is below 40, they begin limping and their movement speed is decreased. As their health level continues to drop, their limp increases in severity and their speed continues to decrease. By the time they reach 1 health point, their limp is extreme and their movement rate is significantly reduced.

Incapacitation
"Shit I'm down!!"

- The Survivors

Once their health is depleted, they will count as incapacitated and will fall to the ground, but still be able to use their pistols. When incapacitated, a survivor has 300 health and must be helped up by teammates, or they will bleed out or be killed. When a Survivor has been incapacitated two times without being healed, they will be killed rather than incapacitated the next time their health reaches 0.

Death
"This is going to hell in a hand basket real fast!!!"

- Bill

Upon death, the deceased Survivor will drop all of their weapons and items and turn into a ragdoll. Dying does not mean that the player has been eliminated from the game, they simply need to wait 1 minute until transferred to the nearest rescue closet, and then have another Survivor rescue them. In Left 4 Dead 2 Survivors can also be revived by using a Defibrillator rather than a closet. In Versus and Realism mode, the Defibrillator is the only option for Survivors to return during a level, as they cannot come back to life inside rescue closets. Otherwise they will have to wait until the Survivors are defeated, finished the chapter, or have restarted the round.

However, there are several other ways to lose the game related to death:


 * Being fully overcome by the Infected, leaving the group unable to play.  However, if one Survivor is incapacitated and another is dominated by a Smoker, Hunter, Jockey, or Charger, the incapacitated Survivors can still save the other Survivor with their pistols and it won't count as a loss.
 * Dying in Single-player mode, leaving the other AI-controlled bots to play alone.
 * Dying in Campaign or Versus mode with all the other Survivor human-controlled players, leaving only bots alive.

Healing
"Stop moving... I don't want to mess this up."

- Rochelle

Health can be restored in various ways:
 * Using a first-aid kit will restore 80% of the player's current missing health.
 * In other words, if you have $$X$$ permanent health, using a first-aid kit grants you $$(4/5)*(100-X)$$ additional health.
 * Using pain pills will restore temporary 50 health, which will slowly decrease to normal health as time passes.
 * Using an adrenaline injector will restore temporary 25 Health. They also make you immune to melee fatigue and the horde's slowing melee attacks for a short period of time.
 * The Defibrillator can be used to bring a dead survivor back to life. The defibrillator will take the space of the health pack. It is a good idea for a survivor with the least health to carry it. 1) because they have no health pack to drop); and 2) because if they die another survivor can pick it up and use it on them. The defibrillator looks like a lightning bolt when you are carrying it. When you are revived with the defibrillator, you will be given 50 permanent health points, similar to how you'd be given 50 permanent health points after being taken out of a rescue closet.
 * Being incapacitated and revived will automatically grant the Survivor 30 Health, but this should not be used unless the player is below 30 Health already and are not on their last incapacitation.
 * Being rescued from a rescue closet will grant the Survivor 50 Health and tier 1 weapons. The type of weapon depends on what the Survivor was carrying when they were killed. For instance, if the Survivor had an assault rifle, that Survivor will get a submachine gun when they are rescued.