The Continuity Guide
Medical Facilities
by Martin Willey

13 Medical Facilities

The Medical Section on Moonbase Alpha has to cope with a variety of medical ailments, from the routine (broken bones in Guardian Of Piri, The Beta Cloud) to the serious (heart replacement in Catacombs Of The Moon) to treating aliens (End Of Eternity, Space Warp, Dorzak).

A variety of medical monitors are used in the series (see more).

Gurneys were often seen (Matter Of Life And Death without a mattress, End Of Eternity, Collision Course, War Games, The Infernal Machine as a trolley, The Troubled Spirit, Mission Of The Darians, The Exiles, Catacombs Of The Moon, The Beta Cloud, The Lambda Factor, The Seance Spectre, The Immunity Syndrome).

Drugs:

Barmycin range	"Fungoids are the basis of the barmycin range of drugs discovered just before we left Earth. It's the only known cure for viral pneumonia." Cave fungus is used in Journey To Where.
Dexetrol	Potent sedative put in Helena's coffee in One Moment Of Humanity.
Ionethermycein	Sedative in The Beta Cloud. "It's the most powerful stuff we have, it's too powerful for humans." Administered by high pressure injector gun, also seen in The Lambda Factor.
Metrazine	Potent drug used to revive Lee Russell in Matter Of Life And Death.
Mezadrine	"That will bring out the most violent, aggressive responses." in The Troubled Spirit
Somnol	Sedative used in The Mark Of Archanon.
Tyomoxin	Tablets used to combat fever and lassitude in The Beta Cloud.
White noise	Sonic anaesthetic sometimes used instead of drugs, seen in The Bringers Of Wonder part 2. "It works by blocking nerve paths in the synapses of the brain." (Actually white noise is not an anaesthetic).

Medical Procedures:

Electroconvulsive therapy/defibrilation	Used in Matter Of Life And Death, Missing Link, Guardian Of Piri, Voyager's Return, The Exiles, All That Glisters.
Narcosynthesis	Old fashioned, but still the safest and best method to allow "the mind to jump all the barriers it has built up within itself." Seen in The Lambda Factor. (Actually a technique of narcotherapy using narcotic drugs widely practised after World War 2 to treat war neuroses).
Neuronic Concussion	Procedure to sedate patient, similar to that used by stun guns. Seen in Space Brain.
Symbiosis	Electronically assisted telepathy, used in advanced psychoanalysis. Seen in Space Brain.
	Note the use of the plastic tent in The Exiles to isolate the patient.