Name: Adhesive Auto-Bandage, Autobands Description: Adhesive auto-bandages are small, adhesive devices containing a "spool" of medical-grade smart polymer which rapidly expand upon contact with a patient, dressing the nearest wound before tightening to apply pressure and then releasing a numbing agent to remedy the pain. When placed in close proximity, multiple bandages are capable of linking together to dress larger injuries. Autobandages are not a single device, and come in many shapes, sizes, and complexities depending on their point of origin, with many even originating from operations in the Fringe. Abilities: When placed, an autobandage rapidly unspools to cover and contain the nearest injury. This treatment provides pressure to stop any bleeding, while also applying a mild numbing agent to the local area. A single autoband is typically able to cover a six inch radius around itself. Conditional Abilities: Autobandages are typically re-usable, and capable of respooling when activated by specific tools. While it's best practice to wash them thoroughly between uses, the Fringe is the Fringe. Particularly advanced autobands are capable of relocating joints or setting bones. Typically, this requires clever placement of multiple patches so that they properly address the area. The smart polymer used for autobandages is capable of altering form, often used to create casts around broken bones. It can also adjust tightness to form a tourniquet when it deems necessary. If applied to a punctured voidsuit, autobandages are more than capable of resealing the hole. Limitations: When first placed, an autobandage performs a six-second diagnostic scan before addressing the wound, typically preventing it from deploying in the same combat turn it is applied. This scan can be interrupted by strenuous activity(running, jogging, falling) or by the body taking more damage during this period. In either case, this causes the timer to reset. Once an autobandage has performed this scan and dressed the wound, it does not reactivate. This mean that an autoband will not re-dress the wound or re-apply the numbing agent if the original bandage is shot or stabbed through. Autobands are not a cure-all. While they excel at keeping individuals alive in the heat of battle and over long deployments, they can not address complex issue such as organ damage, and do not perform meaningful actions like removing bullets. In most cases, a prolonged encounter still leads to a hospital visit. Autobands are not EMP-shielded. EMPing an autoband causes it to become inert. While this isn't an issue for an already deployed bandage, it can quickly prove problematic for a medic whose supply of unactivated autobands no longer function. Conditional Limitations: Not all autobands are built the same, but the numbing agent is typically dosed for the injury sustained, meaning that an additional injury in the same area will not be numbed, and may re-activate the pain of the original injury. Autobandages are not typically hardy. Most are capable of being broken by hand, and a malfunctioning autobandage is capable of being quite dangerous to a patient. Especially strange biology is not compatible with autobands. Examples include the Florans, Tarridans, and Thaniifarri. How does it work?: When applied to an injured person, a small processor in the autobandage's "spool" administers a short scan of their condition, before deploying smart polymers to wrap around the wound. The method used to manipulate these polymers can vary, with most preferring a small ZPEM device. Flavor Text: A product of convergent evolution, the modern has its origin in auto-adhesive technology meant to patch holes in ship exteriors and voidsuits. It was only later during the First Galactic War that the Ministry of Knowledge combined it with Xinoddus research to produce a staple of meditech. Their design is simple enough that most chop-shops in the Fringe are capable of making them wholesale, if provided the materials. Attainability: Open. While readily accessible to most of the galaxy, quality may vary! Tag: [Civilian] Category: Medical
