Triage

Posted on Thu Aug 29th, 2024 @ 4:35am by Captain Malcom Llwyedd & Lieutenant Commander Emergency Medical Hologram & Lieutenant Commander Kataxes & Ensign Jillian Mox & Chief Petty Officer Zenne Beddite

1,642 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Mission 1: A Long Hard Road Ahead
Location: USS Firebird, Deck 5. Sickbay
Timeline: 25 August, 2396 - 1000 Hours

[ON]

Head Nurse Zene Beddite was taking stock of what supplies they had on hand, contemplating a request from the replicators and enjoying the blessed quiet, when an alarm sounded. It was one that she recognized immediately, but not one that she'd heard recently. She tapped her combadge.

"Nurse Beddite to Commander Kataxes. Sir, it appears we have critical care cases that will be arriving in the next five minutes. Please report to sickbay," she said and then proceeded to call in the remaining medical staff.

"On my way," Kataxes replied, just leaving the bridge. They had to wait for a free turbolift, too big and bulky to comfortably fit with anyone else. Maybe one, if they didn't mind, but Kataxes didn't bother asking. Once there was free space, Kataxes skittered slowly inside.

"Deck Five."

The turbolift moved, and Kataxes stepped out the moment the doors were open. They clanked their way down the hall to the sickbay, glowing eyes sweeping over those in their path on the way. It was still an unfamiliar ship, and Kataxes an unfamiliar sight... When Kataxes entered the sickbay, they moved with light clangor over to the medical replicator. "Critical - can you clarify, Nurse?"

Nurse Beddite nodded. "We have three concurrent situations, sir. First, there was a mass casualty event on DS18. Engineers were attempting to replace a plasma couple when it exploded. Multiple burns by all five members of the team. The EMH is handling four of them but the fifth is critical and will be arriving momentarily. Secondly, we've got a patient coming in via shuttlecraft. Not immediately life-threatening. Apparently, they were conducting scientific experiments in botany before the attack. Immediately after the cease-fire, they returned to their lab and something caused a mutation that infected them. We've instituted level four containment on the patient and they are suited. I have the isolation chamber prepared for their arrival. The final patient is a young... Ygin who was injured in a fight with a Lorcan. Ensigns Daw and Djokovic are beaming them over. Three different patients. Three different needs for care," Beddite said and looked at her new Chief. "What are your orders?"

"Understood. The critical patient will need immediate injections upon arrival, ready both kelotane and asinolyathin for if the patient is awake," the doctor began, clunking past the nurse to walk with her. "The isolation chamber, is good for the potential infection, I'd like the records of their transporter data. Finally, the Ygin needs to be sedated and placed into a biobed to be restrained. I will handle the lattermost patient. Send the transporter buffer data of the infected individual to my office, then prepare twenty cc's of kelotane and five cc's of asinolyathin and administer them to the critical patient. Do not apply a dermal regenerator without ensuring the muscle tissue and potentially bone has not been damaged. Anything else, Nurse?"

Zenne shook her head. "No, doctor. I will get Nurse Mox to route the transporter from the burn victim. I will make sure the Ygin is properly placed into the biobed and sedated. Are you expecting violence from them? I understand you had some trouble with the invaders on DS18?" Zenne said. She hadn't had much time to interact with their new doctor and getting to know them was a high priority for her.

"Potentially. The Ygin have a particularly unique anatomy, and I will need time to properly diagnose their injuries without fear of reprisal for my efforts." Kataxes clanked until they turned their body towards Zen, watching the nurse for a few quiet moments. "We must do this slowly and carefully. Indeed, these Ygin may potentially be among the invaders, but not necessarily hostile. It is something we must take precautions for. Is there anything else, Nurse...? I am Kataxes, by the way. I understand we have not had the time to properly talk."

Nurse Beddite blinked. "My apologies Commander Kataxes, we Benzites sometimes forget the social customs and procedures when we become engaged in our occupation. I am Zenne Beddite. I've been the head nurse on the Firebird since the very beginning. I have worked with six different Chief Medical Officers. You are the seventh. I would very much appreciate it if you would last out the duration of your exchange program. I very much need a break from the EMH."

"I would prefer it if I did as well, Nurse Beddite. It is a... difficult time to have arrived aboard, in truth. Still, I will help where I am needed. Such as now." Kataxes tipped forward slightly as a form of nodding. "What can you tell me about the Firebird and its crew, as someone who has served for so long?"

Nurse Beddite opened their mouth to reply when the loud humming sound of a transporter in full activation filled the sickbay. The nurse turned to see a short alien with two owl-like heads appear on one of the biobeds. The skill of the transporter operator was clear as the body materialized under the diagnostics cover, meaning that data began to flow immediately onto the screens around the bed.

"Doctor, the patient is unconscious and has a low blood pressure. I'm seeing some kind of claw wounds on the center torso," Beddite said, their casual get-to-know-you conversation left behind like so many others she'd had like it before.

Nor did Kataxes seem to mind. Their expressions were through their glow, and unreadable to most, but their swift movements over to the bed indicated a similar mind between the two of them. Casual conversation could wait. Metallic limbs carried the doctor over to the wall by the bed, and they gripped a handle to pull open a drawer of supplies.

"Blood pressure will have to wait a moment," Kataxes's soft and feminine voice calmed, beneath the more concerning sounds of the creaks and clicks inside their pod. "Apply dermal regenerator to the wounds." Their three-pronged metal-covered hands worked with both a medical tricorder and the arched diagnostics cover over the alien. Their red crystalline body glowed orange. "Indeed... I will need to synthesize a unique hypotension solution. One moment; keep me updated on their condition."

Nurse Beddite reacted immediately, picking up the dermal regenerator and applying it quickly across the exposed wounds. She moved with the grace of someone who had done so a thousand times before. As she worked, her brow furrowed. She continued to apply the dermal regenerator with one hand and reached out to the instrument table on her left and picked up a medical tricorder. She ran it over the wounds.

"I'm detecting some kind of paralytic agent in the wounds, Doctor. It's not in our database."

Kataxes tapped a few times across the diagnostics cover of the biobed, expanding an image of the paralytic agent's chemical composition.

"Interesting, it did not initially appear in scans of their biology, so it is a foreign substance. A toxin, most likely," they spoke calmly, taking a vial from the nearby medical replicator and spinning it in their hand, mixing the substances. Setting aside their tricorder, a needle sprung from one of their fingers and punctured a thin membrane capping the vial, draining some of the liquid.

"Administering 20 cc's of vasobejisidrine. According to my analysis of their biology, this will properly adjust the hypotension to both heads, without interfering with blood flow." Kataxes turned their crystal inside their suit to look to one side in thought as they injected the substance. "Identify the cause of the paralytic agent, before we continue with dermal regeneration."

"Understood, doctor," Zene said. She moved to a nearby computer console and pulled up the biobed scan. She activated the holoprojector and a vivid image of the toxin's cellular structure appeared in mid-air. She reached out with one hand and turned the image, trying to find something familiar.

"Computer, cross-match unidentified toxin with all known toxins in the medical database," she said.

=>Working=> The computer said. Zene took a brief moment to admire the CMO's precise and deft movements. It was unlike anything she'd ever seen before.

=>No known toxin match=< the computer intoned. =>However one similar match does exist in the database. Would you like that image displayed?<=

"Yes, please," Zene said and a second image appeared, overlaid with the original. There was an obvious similarity. About 80% match by her rough estimation.

"Computer, what is the similar match?"
=>The compound is Ketracel White<= the computer said.

Zene looked at the CMO. "Doctor?"

Kataxes creaked and glowed a bright, flickering orange inside their suit. The panes of their suit's viewing windows darkened slightly in response, while their translator sparked to life. "Worried."

They continued after a moment with the more traditional clicks and harsh squeaks of regular speech, the translator keeping up more quickly. "If there are ties to the Dominion, the command staff will have to be notified. Computer, highlight the differences between the two compounds." Kataxes clacked their way over to view the images more closely, taking note of highlighted bonds. "Here. Yridium tricantizine. As well as a strengthened connection here. Nurse, please bring a pulmonary support unit to connect to the patient. I will be taking a sample, and removing as much of the substance from the wound as I can find - but I cannot get everything, and the rest will still dissolve into the bloodstream in time. We need to ensure they are still capable of breathing as it runs its course."

Zene nodded. "Yes, sir," she said and moved to complete the doctor's orders.

[OFF]

Lieutenant Commander Kataxes
Chief Medical Officer
USS Firebird NCC-88298

Chief Petty Officer Zenne Beddite (NPC by Llwyedd)
Head Nurse
USS Firebird NCC-88298

 

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