Posted Jan. 12, 2019, 6:12 a.m. by Cadet Maximilian Woolley (Doctor) (Tim Olivieri)
Posted by Lieutenant Obiah Torrirs (Chief Medical Officer) in Side Sim: Sickbay Lab (Tag CMO)
Posted by Cadet Maximilian Woolley (Doctor) in Side Sim: Sickbay Lab (Tag CMO)
All had been fairly routine in Sickbay since Max’s arrival on the Challenger. Boarding physicals took up the bulk of his day with the periodic injury or illness sprinkled in to add some flavor. Despite the routine nature of all of it, Max wasn’t bored. He treated each case individually rather than next in line. His training as a scientist and a physician taught him to make fewer assumptions and more observations. Analysis often, but not always, trumps instinct.So it was after the third or fourth headache he treated that he began to consider that there may be a pattern worth examining. Headaches were once a common occurrence on Earth. They were, now, a medical oddity. Those that did emerge were often early symptoms of more serious conditions which gave way to early treatment and were thus halted in their tracks. Alcohol clearly played a roll in at least one of those cases. Or perhaps it was merely correlated.
His shift in the clinic ended for the night, Max decided to spend some time in the lab to see if his suspicions held water. Standing back he looked at a display where four profiles were displayed in comparison.
Unreported injuries, maybe? Max pondered. Maybe people were hitting their heads and just not reporting them for some reason.
=C= Computer, show white blood cell count on all four profiles.=C= Max’s heart quickened a bit as the computer acknowledged his command with a chirp as he awaited the results.
Nothing. No indication of infection. No clear responses to physical injury.
Crossing his arms he leaned against a lab table as he looked a the profiles. He knew there was an answer in there somewhere he was just a bit stuck as to where to look next.
Cadet Max Woolley (Medical)
Obiah had been busied by tending to injuries on different parts of the ship, mostly in engineering, as a result of some accident. Thus, they had spent very little of their time in the Sickbay, making it difficult for them to be of counsel to any of the cadets who might have experienced some oddities with their patients.
Having finished up their last house call, as they liked to name them, they carefully made their way back to the Sickbay, slipping through the hissing doors that led to the area of the ship they knew best. The smell of disinfectants and a bad attempt at masking them with a lavander smell, Obiah went to set down the emergency supply kit by their office, intending to check up on a few of the others before tending to filing case reports for the engineers.
Surveying the room, they decided to check the lab first, it being the smaller of the rooms, so they could work their way out. To their surprise, they found Max working on something they could not disclose from their position beside the door.
“Cadet,” They began, their voice holding the same care it usually did, but now was tainted by curiosity. They noticed he seemed to be a bit stuck, or at least his features bore that expression. “Is everything all right?”
Dr. Torrirs
CMO
The CMO’s words jolted Max back from the inner depths of his own mind. His body language indicating clearly that he had been concentrating and not expecting anyone else to enter.
“Lieutenant” Max acknowledged first, standing upright from his relaxed position and uncrossing his arms. His hands fidgeted a bit as he adjusted his uniform tunic back into position. After a second or two, that initial shock wore off. Though Lt. Torrirs was undoubtedly his superior officer and the CMO, they had thus far enjoyed a positive working relationship. His demeanor soon returned to a much more comfortable one as he walked to the display and gestured.
“We’ve had four recent cases of acute cephalagia reported in sick bay,” Max explained. “Symptoms have not recurred after hydration and a mild analgesic. No signs of physical trauma or other injury. It’s likely nothing serious. But when I saw the pattern I wanted to see if there was a common thread linking the cases. It’s not like headaches are an everyday sort of occurrence. These aren’t the dark ages,” he said, his eyes still scanning the comparison scans on the display.
“No occupational links. The four all worked in distinctive jobs. No history of head pain. No family history of head pain. No indication that there is a more serious condition at play. Just a four case cluster with a somewhat rare symptom.”
Cadet Woolley (Medical)
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