GENERAL DISCUSSIONS

Ever wonder about the infirmary?

POSTED BY: DONCOAT
UPDATED: Sunday, September 10, 2006 07:01
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Sunday, September 10, 2006 3:21 AM

DONCOAT


Maybe you never thought much about it, but if you do it may strike you as odd that our favorite spaceship is equipped with a medical bay, especially considering that until Simon came aboard she had no doctor in her crew.

The Serenity RPG book has a clever explanation for this. For those who haven't read the book, I'll describe it here (of course, it's not 100% canon but I think it's a slick solution).

Firefly class ships have two cargo bays. The main bay we're all familiar with. But the secondary cargo bay is much smaller and is located behind the first one, under the "back hall".

In some Fireflys, the #2 bay is empty and can be used for cargo. But a number of modular options were produced for that space: tankage for a tanker version, extra bunk space for a personnel carrier, bulk storage for grains or ore, and so on. One such option was an infirmary module that converts a Firefly into a Medship. In Fireflys fitted out like this, the shuttles would be used as medevac ambulances and the passenger dorm would house the medical team.

So apparently, when Mal spotted the derelict Firefly that would become Serenity, he was looking at an old Medship that had become superfluous after the war and was scrapped more or less intact, complete with the infirmary module.

Why Mal would have stocked it and made it fully operational is another question, of course, but given his often dangerous line of work he probably saw the value of having plenty of first aid supplies on hand. Maybe some enterprising company (Blue Sun?) offers a "stocking kit" for those modular infirmaries: all the basic supplies you need for one low low price. (We know Mal stocked the infirmary because he says so in the episode Serenity.)

Whatever the reason, it's a good thing Mal spent that cashy money, since without those supplies Kaylee might not have made it through the pilot episode.


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Sunday, September 10, 2006 3:41 AM

SHINYTRINKET


I used the cargo-bay-converted-to-infirmary angle in the fan fic I'm posting. I found it a fascinating angle to work from, and one that fit my story perfectly.

Yay for the RPG book--it's the Bible for fic writers!

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Sunday, September 10, 2006 3:51 AM

GUENEVER


It's a logical answer. And it's elegant. And simple. Those are the best answers. Simple.

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Sunday, September 10, 2006 5:16 AM

SIGMANUNKI


Quote:

Originally posted by DonCoat:

The Serenity RPG book has a clever explanation for this. For those who haven't read the book, I'll describe it here (of course, it's not 100% canon but I think it's a slick solution).




I don't think that this explination breaks canon as it isn't contradicting anything from what we already know.


Quote:

Originally posted by DonCoat:

Firefly class ships have two cargo bays. The main bay we're all familiar with. But the secondary cargo bay is much smaller and is located behind the first one, under the "back hall".

In some Fireflys, the #2 bay is empty and can be used for cargo. But a number of modular options were produced for that space: tankage for a tanker version, extra bunk space for a personnel carrier, bulk storage for grains or ore, and so on. One such option was an infirmary module that converts a Firefly into a Medship. In Fireflys fitted out like this, the shuttles would be used as medevac ambulances and the passenger dorm would house the medical team.




Personally, I don't like this explination. I don't buy the modularity bit. Just look at what it would take to put in and take out that module and you'll see what I mean; it's _supposed_ to be easy to switch modules when availible. That's kind of the whole point to modular stuff. Take that away...

A more simple one would be that, being "out there" all alone can be a rather dangerous thing (think Kaylee in Out Of Gas). So, thinking of the practical implications of this, the designers put in a small med bay.


Quote:

Originally posted by DonCoat:

Why Mal would have stocked it and made it fully operational is another question, of course, but given his often dangerous line of work he probably saw the value of having plenty of first aid supplies on hand. Maybe some enterprising company (Blue Sun?) offers a "stocking kit" for those modular infirmaries: all the basic supplies you need for one low low price. (We know Mal stocked the infirmary because he says so in the episode Serenity.)




But we also know in that same episode that Simon said that what was stocked was rather rudimentary. So, I doubt the "stocking kit" thing. More likely that Mal (and Zoe), being in the military for years, picked up a fair bit of feild medic "training" and bought what they thought they needed. Adequate, but hardly "fully stocked" from a docotors point of view.


Quote:

Originally posted by DonCoat:

Whatever the reason, it's a good thing Mal spent that cashy money, since without those supplies Kaylee might not have made it through the pilot episode.




Very true

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Sunday, September 10, 2006 5:59 AM

CITIZEN


I was thinking of doing a few short stories about Serenity before she was bought by Mal where she was a medical evac for the Independents, great minds obviously think a like.

I don't see any problem with this modular explination. It's done all the time now, Ships and Aircraft can be outfitted for different purposes, and these outfittings are offered as modules or setups. Take a look at the infirmary, all it is is a couple of extra walls and some cabinets that could easilly be slotted into the basic model by the company that built her to order.



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Sunday, September 10, 2006 7:01 AM

DONCOAT


It's also located just above the bottom of the ship, just aft of the main drive ring, which suggests that there could be an access panel in the bottom of the hull to allow the modules to be swapped in and out fairly easily.



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