Sickbay

Sickbay, also known as the dispensary or the medbay, was the main medical center aboard Federation starships. The section was presided over by the chief medical officer (CMO), a senior staff member. The CMO was supported by various medical practitioners. The area was also used for certain analyses of new lifeforms a starship might encounter, and for developing treatments for unknown diseases or illnesses. When rendering aid to a stricken planet or spacecraft, the sickbay staff treated and cared for the wounded. On starbases, sickbay was typically called the infirmary.
== Features ==
=== Intensive care unit ===
Three or four biobeds generally lined the walls of sickbay's intensive care unit, or ICU; these were for patients receiving medical care and were equipped with biofunction monitors. On starships, private rooms were available for long-term patients. ()
=== Surgical facilities ===
Sickbays also had surgical beds, where major surgeries were performed, and critical patients were treated. A large, sophisticated sensor cluster was usually installed directly above this bed. Working in conjunction with a medical tricorder, the sensor suite could give detailed information about a patient's condition. The bed was also designed to use a surgical support frame. This bed was often located in the center of the main sickbay room, although and starships had separate spaces for their surgical beds, the former in a separate room, the latter in a small area that could be isolated by a force field. (; ) Aboard Intrepid-class starship this surgical facility was named surgical bay. () If necessary, surgery could be conducted in the intensive care ward if there was an overflow of patients or if another patient was present to donate blood. (; ) Galaxy-class starships also had separate surgical rooms. ()
=== Laboratories ===
Sickbays typically had small laboratory facilities attached to the ICU. The chief medical officer or other associated personnel could monitor experiments or run tests here during their duty shift. (; ) The laboratory was equipped with a full bioisolation field. () Many starships also have separate, larger medlabs. Galaxy-class ships had at least four. (; )
=== CMO's office ===
The chief medical officer's office was also located in or near sickbay. As with the captain's ready room, it was an area for the CMO to work in privacy or conduct meetings with patients, staff, and others. Its close location allowed the CMO to be present in sickbay almost immediately. The space could be personalized, and the chief medical officer could use plants or paintings for decoration. Dr. Beverly Crusher had a large painting outside her office; it was an abstract representation of humanoid organs against the backdrop of space and several of the USS Enterprise starships. She also had a small potted palm tree on the floor beside her desk.
=== Other features ===
Other treatment facilities available in a Galaxy-class sickbay included physical therapy rooms, () OB/GYN and nursery areas, () and an emergency bio support unit. () A stasis unit was also available, used to temporarily place patients in suspended animation for later treatment. () Constitution-class starships had a decompression chamber, and may have had other features as well. ()
A morgue facility was also part of sickbay. On Galaxy-class starships, there was a large separate morgue, () although autopsies were performed in the main sickbay. () The Intrepid-class had a tiny area for storage of the deceased just off the medical lab as well as a separate morgue area. ()
=== Supplies ===
Sickbays were well stocked with a variety of medical equipment and supplies. Much of it was left out on tables or benches for use by the medical crew, but some items were stored in cargo crates. (; ) On 24th century starships, if a piece of equipment was needed but not available it could be replicated. A standard food replicator was also found in sickbay, () although the quality of the food did not appear to have improved much since the twentieth century. ()
=== Security ===
Due to its critical importance, the primary sickbay was usually located deep within the saucer section of most Federation starships. Sickbays were well-protected, and generally had a phaser locker for defense of the facility in the event the ship was boarded. () However, on vessels, at least one sickbay was located near the exterior of the saucer section, and had a window. ()
=== Psychology ===
Sickbays could provide limited psychological services to a starship's crew. In the 23rd century, the ship's doctor often doubled as an informal counselor. () By the 24th century, counselors became a normal part of starship crews. Although not formally part of the medical staff, the counselor played an important role in the well-being of the crew. () Counselors were not always assigned to starships, especially smaller vessels with limited missions. While the was stranded in the Delta Quadrant, the ship's Emergency Medical Hologram and morale officer Neelix informally filled the counselor roles. ()
== Emergency situations ==
=== Triage ===
In the event of a large-scale disaster or humanitarian crisis that was encountered by a starship, cargo bays and shuttlebays could be used as triage centers and even morgues if necessary. Generally, this was only feasible on larger ships with a sizable medical staff. On Galaxy-class ships, a chief medical officer could order all Starfleet crewmembers and civilians with medical training to assist during a major crisis. () Galaxy-class starships also carried large quantities of backup medical supplies in the event of disaster. ()
Designated environmental shelters could also be converted for medical use, such as Ten Forward on the Galaxy-class. () On the Intrepid-class USS Voyager, the mess hall often served as a backup to sickbay. ()
=== The Emergency Medical Hologram ===
The Emergency Medical Holographic program was an asset to medical personnel introduced in 2370. It could be activated in the event of a major emergency or loss of the medical staff. Although its value was indisputable, many Starfleet doctors, including Beverly Crusher, were not fond of the program, and it was rewritten several times. (; ; ) One noteworthy EMH was The Doctor of the USS Voyager. He was activated shortly after the ship's disappearance in 2371, and served as their chief medical officer for nearly seven years, growing into a sentient being in the process. ()
== Differences among starship classes ==
=== NX-class ===
The had a single sickbay ward on E Deck. The facility was open-plan, with laboratory equipment in the main sickbay area. The room also contained a main operating table, as well as several side beds for recovery of patients and an imaging chamber. To either side of the imaging chamber were autoclaves. The room was easily capable of caring for non-humanoid patients. Aboard , Dr. Phlox often kept various different species of animals in sickbay, which he sometimes used in the treatment of injuries in lieu of more traditional treatments. One such animal was an osmotic eel. ()
The sickbay aboard Enterprise also featured two sinks in two alcoves next to the door. By using a ladder, a maintenance shaft could be reached. ()
=== Kelvin-type ===
The sickbay was a brightly white-lit room, furnished with at least one biobed. Next to the bed were a couple of free-standing consoles and two overhead monitors.
=== Crossfield-class ===
The sickbay featured two biobeds on each side of the room, with a third in the center. Above each biobed was an imaging chamber. ()
=== Constitution-class ===
In the 2250s, Constitution-class starships had a contained a sickbay that took up two decks. They even contained an emergency medical transporter to allow for more efficient beaming of patients directly to sickbay. ()
By the 2260s, sickbay was located on Deck 5, and was considered the best protected part of the ship. () It was maintained and operated by the astro-medicine department. There were at least four wards. () They featured multiple body function panels. () One of the wards was an isolation ward. () It was completely redesigned during the refit of the , much to the chagrin of Dr. McCoy. (; )
By 2293, the sickbay on Constitution II-class starships was redesigned yet again. ()
==== Alternate reality ====
In the alternate reality , the facility was known as "med bay" and was located within the saucer section of the ship. ()
=== Excelsior-class ===
The sickbay on a refit starship can handle up to forty-seven patients at one time, though it would be crowded.
The rescued and treated forty-seven El-Aurian survivors in 2293, albeit without the CMO or their staff. ()
=== Galaxy-class ===
Galaxy-class ships had at least three sickbay wards. () Two sickbay wards were located on Deck 12 of the saucer module, with the primary facility on the starboard side of the ship and a backup on the port. () Another sickbay was in the stardrive section in case the vessel needed to separate. (; ) Galaxy-class ships had one of the largest medical care facilities in the fleet, taking up the majority of Deck 12.
In an alternate timeline, Captain Rachel Garrett marveled at the size and advancement of the Enterprise-D sickbay, stating that she had "never seen anything like it before, even on a starbase." () Galaxy-class ships normally had several doctors on board and at least four medical personnel on duty at all times. ()
=== Intrepid-class ===
On Intrepid-class ships, sickbay was located on Deck 5. () The entire medical staff consisted of a doctor and a nurse. Intrepid-class starships were also supplemented by the then new Emergency Medical Holographic program or EMH. () Sickbays on the Intrepid-class were unable to handle heavy patient loads, much to the frustration of Voyagers EMH, who requested a larger facility at some point during Voyagers journey through the Delta Quadrant. ()
File:Intrepid class sickbay entryway.jpg|Entryway
File:Intrepid class sickbay office.jpg|The chief medical officer's office
File:Intrepid class sickbay, 2374.jpg|The area with biobeds
File:Intrepid class sickbay surgical area.jpg|Surgical area
File:Intrepid class sickbay lab.jpg|The lab in the back area
File:Intrepid class sickbay from inside lab.jpg|The view from inside the lab
=== Defiant-class ===
On ships, sickbay was on Deck 2. (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Technical Manual) Sickbays were spartan, usually staffed with a single physician or medic. The room was equipped with limited surgical facilities and was primarily intended to stabilize patients until they could be delivered to a nearby friendly starbase medical facility. ()
=== Sovereign-class ===
Aboard the , sickbay wards could be found on Decks 8 and 16 (the latter of which was a smaller facility resembling the sickbay of an Intrepid-class ship). Sovereign-class sickbays were equipped with an EMH. (; )
=== Prometheus-class ===
Sickbays on the were somewhat small, each containing a single surgical biobed and a spartan research area. However, the sickbays were stocked with the latest in medical technologies and were the first to test the EMH Mark II. ()
=== Lamarr-class ===
In 2384, the sickbay's location in the was labeled in the ship's master systems display. ()
== Appendices ==
=== Background information ===
In the script of , sickbay is described as "the small 'Hospital', the pleasant and comfortably furnished room – not the usual Spartanish hospital type." The script goes on to describe the room's furnishings.
The sickbay set seen in was originally built for the aborted Star Trek: Phase II television series. It was reused for and also became the seedy bar visited by Dr. McCoy in .http://trekplace.com/lorajohnson.html
The set was later revamped to serve as the sickbay for . The sickbay set also doubled as the observation lounge set, during the first season of TNG. Its windows were covered with carpet when the set was used to represent sickbay. () Outlines of where the windows were can be seen in sickbay scenes. There was a small medlab attached to this set, beyond the doors next to Dr. Crusher's office. It was crammed behind the transporter room and a difficult set to shoot, and ultimately only appeared three times: once as the Bio Lab in , again as Wesley's laboratory at the beginning of the third season, and in its final appearance as the tactical laboratory in . This led to the creation of a new, separate multipurpose laboratory which appeared towards the end of the same season. Items and the layout in sickbay changed gradually as the series went on, including the removal of a brown-tinted window in front of the main bio-bed shown in . 
It also appeared as the sickbay in and , in this same basic configuration. 24th century control panels and technology could be seen on the set in Star Trek V, but for Star Trek VI, the set was better redressed to hide the TNG-era elements.
The set was further retooled to become Voyagers sickbay for and the sickbay in both and . Elements from this incarnation of the set were incorporated in the in . The set was torn down after Voyager wrapped in . 
A new set was built for the Enterprise-E in , although it used the biobeds from TNG (which were originally from The Motion Picture). 
For the , the mess hall set was redressed to become sickbay. 
A great number of items found in the Enterprises (NX-01) sickbay were sold in the It's A Wrap! sale and auction. 
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