Medical needs - Part 1

Posted on Sat Nov 29th, 2025 @ 2:36pm by Lieutenant Ayumu Tanaka & Captain Daegan Baas & Lieutenant Niami Troga & Lieutenant JG Christian Rogers & Petty Officer 1st Class Samuel Renfroe EMT-P & Petty Officer 1st Class Corvus Hannah

1,674 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: What was Lost is Found
Location: Planet Kril'Es- Communal Refectory
Timeline: MD 6 - 1300

After coordinating with the local practitioners, Ayumu and his medical team had set up their triage in a nearby refectory and began the long, arduous process of screening the colonists. What with the revelation that their medical supplies had long been exhausted and they had had to resort to the usage of natural remedies for at least a couple of generations now, there was no telling what the colonists had been exposed to in their time here, or how their genetics may have been impacted by the environment. Couple in the possibility of radiation poisoning and... whatever it was had afflicted the Pricari, and there was a lot of uncertainties that Ayumu was going to have to address before he could effectively begin rendering treatment.

The colonists, for the most part, were surprisingly cooperative, as for many this otherwise routine procedure was a completely new experience to them. A few small children were evidently put off by the tall, imposing CMO, and thus Ayumu had delegated the duty of screening the children to both Niami and Corvus so as not to cause a scene, but otherwise the screening process was going off without incident.

Heba Kouri, stood with the medical officer as he worked and helped to allay any fear anyone might have. She had been amazed how quickly the medical team had taken care of those in her infirmary had been taken care of and sent on their way. She was actually the great, great, great granddaughter of the only medical officer to survive from the Ulysses and had grow up hear the stories of how easily the sick could be treated and had never really thought it possible, but seeing things for herself she silently ask for forgiveness for ever doubting the stories.

She had set several of her apprentices to go fetch several that had broken limbs or other illnesses that had her patients bedridden, and those litters were starting to arrive. "Doctor Tanaka, the patients I mentioned are arriving." Pointing off to the side as the barres bypassed the growing line.

Ayumu glanced up and immediately identified the patients in question- a frail and sickly bunch that had congregated in a far corner, trying to stay out of everyone's way.

"Right this way, please!" he called out, motioning for the patients to skip the queue and make their way up front. "Line yourselves up over here in a neat, orderly fashion; critical care patients first, if possible!"

The patients and their caretakers looked at one another uncertainly, but nonetheless heeded the Trill's instructions and began making their way to the front of the line.

"Now, Ayumu began as the first patient was wheeled forward. "What've we got?"

The first litter carried a younger man propped up on both elbow with both legs splinted. "Blue uniform...well some things haven't changed."

"Well, I'm told there was an 80-year span where Medical officers wore light green, but that's a story for another time," Ayumu joked as he moved over to get a better look at the man's injuries. "Now... how exactly did these injuries come about?"

Jared grinned and shrugged, "Hehe...stupidity. Trying to impress a girl..."

"Well, I'm sure that made for an interesting dinner discussion," Ayumu remarked as he slowly ran the tricorder over Jared's legs. "About how long ago was this, if you don't mind my asking?"

He winced as he shifted. "About 2 weeks ago." Adding with a grin, "But hey but it worked...she's been by almost every day to check on me."

Ayumu shook his head and sighed. "There's gotta be a better way to get her attention..." he remarked as he looked at the tricorder readings. "Okay, so it seems we're looking at at least 1 transverse fracture in each tibia, an oblique fracture in the right fibula, and a segmented fracture in the left fibula. Now, the tibias and right fibula appear to be in the early reparative stages of healing, which means that your body's generating a soft callus to bridge the fracture- you'll likely still experience sub-acute pain in those specific regions, but it'll likely be from muscle stiffness rather than from the bone itself. However, what I'm most concerned with is the left fibula, as it looks like a large chunk of the shaft has completely separated from the rest of the bone and has been dislocated by about... I'd say 13 millimeters? On a scale of 1 to 10, how much does your left calf hurt when you move it?"

Flexing his calf muscles, "About a seven."

Ayumu nodded. "Right; so, I think our best option- with your permission, of course- would be to operate," he recommended. "Fortunately, our modern surgical procedures are relatively quick and painless; we beam you up, put you out, realign the bone and reinforce it with some artificial callus, prescribe you with some pain medications, and then beam you back down to the surface. All said and done, the entire procedure takes about 10 to 20 minutes."

Jared looked up to he brother and father that had carried the stretcher from their home. "I get to go up in your starship and my legs will be fixed in 20 minutes? Hell Yea!!"

"That is perhaps the most enthusiastic I have ever heard a patient be for a surgery," Ayumu remarked as he reached up and tapped his comm badge. =A=Tanaka to Sickbay; I've got a patient down here with a segmented fracture in his left fibula, so I'm beaming him up to you for surgery.=A=

=A=Copy that, Doc,=A= came the response. =A=We'll be ready to beam him up when you are.=A=

=A=Stand by,=A= Ayumu instructed before shifting his attention over to Jared.

"Once you get up to the Valkyrie, my staff will debrief you on the procedure before we put you under," he explained. "Be sure to follow their instructions before and after the surgery, as they'll optimize the chances of your injuries healing properly. Also, since I understand that you're a little behind on the latest medical terminology, please don't hesitate to speak up if there's something you don't understand, got it?"

With an eager, "Oh yeah..." He couldn't wait to get up there. All his life he and his friends had heard the stories of the technology, the starships and traveling between the stars. Now not he had a chance to see one first hand but to travel by transporter. "...I'm ready."

Nodding, Ayumu reached up and tapped his commbadge. =A=Tanaka to sickbay; energize.=A=

As the transporter took effect, "WOOO...."

Ayumu couldn't help but feel just a tiny swell of pride as Jared was beamed away, for it was at times such as these that he was reminded that he was out there making the difference in someone's life, just like his father had before him. A simple aspiration, perhaps, but a clear and concise one that gave him a sense of purpose, and subsequent fulfillment when he could see that his actions were making a positive impact. And if a segmented fracture was going to be the worst of his concerns today, then he had this in the bag.

"Alright, people, let's keep the line moving!" he called out. "Next patient, please!"

---

[Elsewhere}

"No, he only looks scary. And big. But he doesn't actually eat children. That's not allowed," Corvus said as he prepared a hypospray. The small girl's eyes widen as he said "eat children" and she gave him a stare that indicated she didn't believe anything could stop a giant from eating children.

"Gamma tells stories of giants grinding bones for bread," Lauma whispered as she leaned in toward Corvus. "Does he grind bones for bread?" She asked with all the seriousness of a child that didn't understand that stories were merely stories and not history.

"Not that I've seen," Corvus said, trying to keep his tone and face serious despite the humor he found in her earnestness. "This is going to be a little bit of pressure that may seem like an ouchie, but it's only for a very small bit and then you're going to start feeling so much better. Okay?" he nodded.

Lauma, her brown eyes reminiscent of her watered down Romulan heritage gave him a very serious nod as she gripped her mother's hand very tight. Corvus put the hypospray to her neck and quickly dispensed the medicines and vaccines. "There, all better and look," he said, indicating his open bag. "You got to choose your color of bandage. Isn't that neat?"

She stared at the assembled bandages with the same seriousness she took eveyrthing else since first seeing Tanaka. As if making the wrong choice would mean she was to become a light snack for the medical officer. Eventually she chose the light blue. Corvus nodded as if that was the only right choice, of course. He knew that a bandage was unnecessary, but he also knew Lauma, and many of the other settlers, would never have seen a hypospray and would never believe it was able to inject medicines without actually violating the skin. So, he often kept a supply of bandages just for the placebo effect.

"Okay, you and Mom go over there and give them this note," he said, handing over a small PaDD to Lauma. "They'll get you some juice and cookies."

Lauma smiled and then without hesitation leaned in and hugged Corvus around the neck. "You're really, truly sure he can't eat me?"

Corvus checked the laugh. "Yes, very much. And I wouldn't let him."

Lauma nodded and started to walk off then stopped and turned back toward him. "It's okay if he eats Tomil Johnson though. He's a brat!" Then, having delivered this pronouncement, she walked off. Corvus chuckled even as he waved forward the next patient.


TBC...

 

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