Posted by Gamemaster Wombat (Gamemaster) in Main Sim - Sickbay

Posted by Lieutenant Tija Aizala (Chief Medical Officer) in Main Sim - Sickbay

Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Garth (Chief Science Officer) in Main Sim - Sickbay
Posted by… suppressed (2) by the Post Ghost! 👻
Snip
Tija raised one eyebrow as she watched the body and parasites tendrils. She certainly hadn’t expected such a drastic change. “Maybe I shouldn’t have lowered to temperature quite that much,” she muttered under her breath as she flipped open her tricorder to do an in-depth scan of the corpse and the parasite. A bit louder she, she continued, “But at least he isn’t a danger for the crew anymore. Though I’d rather not have to take such extreme measures with Torrirs and Osten. The last thing I want to do is kill either of them.” While she talked the moved the tricoder wand slowly down the body, trying to find out if the parasite was actually still alive and just frozen, or of she had killed it.

~Lt. Tija, Asst. CMO

Garth’s bushy eyebrows raised in surprise at the efficacy of the treatment. “Well done,” he exclaimed in a paternal tone. Then Garth abruptly turned back to the samples he had collected, the thought that they might be dangerous if left unattended just occurring to him. Sticking all three petri dishes in a containment cambering, Garth then used a set of medical tongs to gingerly pick up Richards’ dismembered arm and put it with the rest of the detached parts of the parasite. “Computer, lower the humidity within the containment chamber to 0% and the temperature to 0°C.” He hoped that would neutralize them in case they were primed to reanimate.

(Lt. J.g. Garth, CSO)

OOC: Just so I am clear, you aren’t trying to put the body/parasite in statsis, correct?

IC: The hand also slowed its movement as the air and cold dried it out. Apparently the environmental adjustments aboard the Potterfield were to make the space habitable to whatever this is.

GM Wombat

OOC: Correct. Aizala just tried more or less the first thing that popped into her mind to reduce the fever and keep the parasite from growing. ~Silke

Emmy stood back and watched the two officers work with interest. Shortly, however, her reverie was interrupted by the chirp of her comm badge.

=/\= NE Uhoh to Captain Davis. Ma’am, you better get back to the bridge, there’s something you need to hear. =/\=

=/\= I’m on my way. =/\=

She briefly nodded at the CSO and the CMO as she spun on her heel and made her way to the bridge.

Davis, CO

With her main focus still on her tricorder, Tija only saw the Captain leaving from the corner of her eye and she hadn’t actually heard the comm call at all; at least not on a conscious level.

~Lt. Tija, Asst. CMO

Garth shook his head as if to clear it, turning away from watching the results of the chief medical officer’s scan intently. His eyes widened suddenly as he abruptly remembered that there was an away team in the hostile environment of the Potterfield, with more of these deadly flora. Slapping his comm badge, Garth hailed the Challenger’s chief engineer.

</> Garth to Lieutenant Vras. Lieutenant Aizala has discovered that altering environmental conditions is extremely effective at neutralizing the hostile lifeforms. The climate on the Potterfield has likely been adapted to suit the biological needs of the plants. If possible, I’d recommend finding a way to reduce the atmospheric conditions on board the Potterfield to 0 degrees Celsius and 0 percent humidity. </>

“Hopefully no one’s environmental suit has been damaged,” Garth mumbled to himself as he turned back to hastily review the scans once again.

(Lt. J.g. Garth, CSO)

It wasn’t until she heard her own name, that the voices around her actually fully registered with the doctor again. Frowning slightly, she resisted from correcting Garth. After all, there were much more important things going on and to some degree she’d gotten used to people mixing up her first and last name over the years. So instead her focus went back to her tricorder, still trying to figure out whether the parasite was still alive or not as her next actions regarding the two patients that were still alive depended on the answer to that question.

~Lt. Tija, Asst. CMO

Tija’s tricorder showed that the parasite wasn’t dead, per se, it was just really cold. Like most biological jungle things it preferred warm, moisture rich, environments rather than cold dry ones. This environment wasn’t enough to kill the creature outright, yet, but it was enough to negatively impact its health and metabolism.

GM Wombat

Tija tapped her left index finger thoughtfully against her lips. So the parasite wasn’t dead, but slowing it’s metabolism down might buy them the time they need to save the other two infected crewmembers. Walking over to the other two biobeds, she instructed the computer, =/\= Lower the temperature and humidity within the force fields surrounding the other two patients to a level that won’t kill the patients, but reduce the metabolism and health of the parasite. =/\= Closing her eyes for a brief moment and taking a deep breath, the doctor waited for the reply from the computer.

Looking towards Garth, Aizala said, “Do you have any other ideas what we can do to get rid of the parasite?”

~Lt. Tija, Asst. CMO

Garth sighed in frustration as the scans showed that the parasite was only dormant. He threw his hands up in the air rather dramatically. “Anti-fungals are only mildly effective, environmental manipulation is only mildly effective, we need something that will be a definitive solution.”

Garth paced for a moment and spoke maybe to Tija but probably moreso to himself. “Scans showed no centralized mass of the parasite, which is odd because its actions suggest some sort of intelligence without a consolidated brain. If the parasite is solely relying on the nervous system of its host, perhaps we should be looking at interventions for disrupting that nervous system, although hopefully just momentarily for the living crew members.”

Tija watched him silently, following his train of thought.

He looked up and stopped his pacing. “This is only a theory,” Garth cautioned, “but the parasite showed a faint electrical signal on initial scans. Maybe we can ‘overload’ its hijacked nervous system by shocking the host.”

(Lt. J.g. Garth, CSO)

“It’s certainly worth a try,” the doctor agreed. “We just have to make sure that we don’t kill our patients in the progress. Which means we have to figure out exactly how to go about it.” That said, she walked over to Garth and called up the initial scans to have a look at the faint electrical signal. Thinking out loud, she added, “Electroshock therapy? Or maybe neural stimulation?” She didn’t want to make a hasty decision that might cost the two officers their lives. And yet she also knew that she didn’t have the luxury of time; for if she waited to long, the result might be the same.

~Lt. Tija, Asst. CMO

Richards was functionally dead at this point. If the scans proved anything it was that they could do what they wanted to him and it would be ok. The CMO, however, was another issue.

Swelling had started to form around the bite site and careful examination would show little bumps moving under the skin.

GM Wombat

Garth muttered a tellarite curse under his breath as the monitor above the CMO’s biobed beeped in warning of the new developments. “At this point I’m ready to just slap an AED on her and hope for the best. But, maybe we can fine-tune the charge to reduce the risk involved.”

Garth swiped his PaDD and pulled up the crew registry, scrolling quickly to the engineering roster. He slapped his comm badge. =^= Garth to Ensign Tanner. Report to sick bay immediately. =^=

Once TJCT had arrived and passed by the security cadets guarding the entrance to sickbay, Garth ushered her impatiently to the side of the biobed of the Challenger’s chief medical officer. “She’s been infected by an aggressive alien parasite,” Garth said bluntly without introduction, “we’re hoping to fry the flora’s tendrils attached to her central nervous system via electrical shock. Do you think you could work with Lieutenant Tija to adjust an electrical current to a level that would be lethal to the parasite but not lethal to the doctor?” Garth shoved a PaDD with scans of the parasite into her hands. “Time is of the essence.”

(Lt. J.g. Garth, CSO)