Freelance Traveller

TL12+ AutoDoc

by Scott Diamond

Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared in the August 2011 issue of Freelance Traveller.

Autodocs are semi- to fully-autonomous medical service systems that provide a wide array of services including first aid, surgery, trauma stabilization, and healing routines. Beginning at TL-12 they become increasingly advanced over the TL range by being able to add more patient modules and improvements in the expert systems can handle increasingly complicated procedures and treatments. They are quite handy for use onboard starships to supplement medical facilities on warships, or provide treatment for those crews without access to a doctor in a timely fashion.

At TL-12 and 14 patients can be treated with minimal monitoring by a doctor with at least Medical-2 skill in case emergency intervention is required. At TL-14 Medical-1 is required at a minimum for operation. At TL-15 the unit requires nothing more than occasional monitoring, often by using common remote medical pocket computers and no specific medical expertise is required to use one at this TL. As a safety measure if there are any complications developed during treatment (at all Tech Levels this feature is present) the system cannot handle, and there are no medically qualified personnel to intervene, the system will automatically induce cold sleep and function as an emergency low berth until medical help can intervene.

The base unit can treat one patient enclosed in a treatment capsule. The base and capsule require 2 tons of space for the complete unit. At each tech level above 12 another capsule can be added up to a maximum of 3, thus at TL-15 a fully equipped autodoc can treat 4 patients (base unit + 3 capsules) at once.

The materials used for treatment need to be replenished from time to time. The autodoc heals one point of damage for 1 point of medical supplies. The base unit has 50 points worth of medical supplies in the support unit. The rate of healing is 3 points per day per attribute worked on, 3 points per 3 days per attribute if the attribute was at zero. Autodocs cannot bring the dead back to life, but since they can double as a low berth with medical life support to keep the body functioning possible reanimation may be achieved at a facility capable of it depending on the extent of the injuries or disease involved.

Base Unit:          Cr550,000
Additional Capsule: Cr250,000
Medical Supplies:   Cr2,000 per healing point of supplies