Part 2: Episode 1-2: Montgomery Memorial

Episode 1-2: Montgomery Memorial



Fairbanks was mentioned briefly in the prologue. The town where our doctors work is fictional (and unnamed) but Fairbanks is real.





Here's what she sounds like.

Suddenly, a nun appears! She's pretty much my favourite character. I don't remember her name. Who cares?

Valerie: Good morning, Sister. Seems like it's starting to warm up.

Nun: Oh, don't be fooled, dear. The cool temperatures can return quite suddenly, so be sure to carry a sweater with you at all.

Alaskan weather is like a mugger that jumps you in a back alley. Luckily, roving weather nuns are here to warn you.

Valerie: Oh, okay. I will. Looks like you've taught me something about this town once again, sister.

Nun: And be careful not to caught in any storms. They can be absolutely dreadful. Well, I must be going, but if there's anything new troubling you, please come see me at church.

Valerie: Oh, thank you, but I've been okay lately. I've been meaning to attend Sunday service.

Nun: Good. I hope to see you before we move to the new church we're building.

Valerie: You will, I promise.

The nun casually foreshadowed two upcoming plot points. Can you spot them?



Here's what this guy sounds like.

Here's our patient, He's from Brooklyn or something. His name, given a little later, is Eugene Carlton.

Markus: Why wouldn't you be?

Eugene: If I had the cash, I would've gone to a REAL hospital. But I don't, so I'm stuck here.

Trauma Center: New Blood is a discussion of the American healthcare system.

Valerie: Mr. Carlton, you may not be aware, but this hospital is affiliated with Concordia Medical Institute in Los Angeles. Only the finest and most skilled doctors are sent here.

The Concordia institute is made up, but it's named after the Roman goddess of harmony, as in agreement and understanding. Her Greek counterpart is Harmonia. The Trauma Center series uses Greek words pretty frequently, so it's interesting that they used a Roman one here.

Eugene: Oh, really? Because everyone around town says this is where all the rejects get dumped. They say that Dr. Montgomery, the guy who built this hospital, was really good, but that was, what, 20 years ago? It doesn't matter now 'cuz he's dead.

No amount of apostrophes can make that exposition less awkward. I don't even think they ever bring that up again.

Markus: Well, I'm still alive, so let's try to get through this together, alright? Now, the bad news is that you have a tumor, but the good news is it's benign. Don't worry, I could perform this operation in my sleep.

And he will, because I'm using Valerie.

Eugene: Alright, but can I call my wife, first? I wanna talk to her about my will.

There is a fade-out here to signify some time going by, so just blink really hard or something.



Hoover: Dr. Vaughn, are you there?

Markus: Oh, Dr. Hoover. I have an operation to prepare for, so…

Hoover: Well, I wanted to speak with you about that matter I mentioned earlier.

Markus: I was just looking over those documents you gave me. I'm sorry, but I can't agree to this. I couldn't do that to this place. What would you do without us? So even if it's a direct order, I can't comply. You understand, don't you?

Apparently Markus and Valerie are the only doctors here, so maybe he'll be sleeping through the next operation because of overwork.

Hoover: Yes, but I believe I forgot to mention that Professor Wilkins contacted me personally. So perhaps you should consult with Valerie before you make up your mind.

Markus: I don't know about her, but there's no way I'm going back.



Markus: Please excuse me, Doctor Hoover. I have an operation to perform.



For someone whose played these games, benign tumours are old hat by now. Getting rid of them quickly is a basic skill. The series has never actually featured malignant tumours, but the manuals suggest that they can be treated with the game's future technology. Presumably, it's much harder.

Valerie: I'd appreciate it if you could arrive on time, Markus.

Markus: Sorry, could you review the briefing?

Marcy: Of course, Dr. Vaughn. The test results show that Mr. Carlton has several tumours in his stomach. They're benign, but rather large. As a precaution, we're going to excise them using the Powell Procedure.

Markus: Well, that may be difficult for a "reject" like me.

Marcy: Oh, Dr. Vaughn. You're not letting the patients rude comment bother you, are you?

Valerie: I guess we'll just have to show him how talented we really are.

"Cancel the anaesthetic!"



As I already mentioned, today's surgeon will be…



Dr. Valerie Blaylock!



OPERATION VIDEO

Viddler Backup

This isn't a hard operation, but there are some tricks to become familiar with, and one of the major tools works very differently in this game.



Before any real work can be done, the game teaches you how to deal with small tumours by burning them with the laser. You just need to point and click, but be careful not to hold the laser over healthy areas too long or you'll burn a hole clear through. Eliminating the small tumours also leaves a hole, which can be patched up with gel.



The ultrasound has been redesigned to be much nicer to use and take advantage of the Wii remote. Instead of only working when you press the button, a bubble is projected around the curser, and anything within it can be seen as a shadow. If you want, you can press A to "mark" the object so it appears even when you switch tools, but it isn't usually necessary. With tumours, you'll only get a Good if you "mark" the tumour first, and a Cool if you don't. This is effectively the same as in Second Opinion, except you no longer need to memorize the tumours' locations just to get a Cool.



The process for dealing with tumours is: 1) Use the scalpel on the shadow to reveal it. 2) Use the drain on it. 3) Use the scalpel again and cut along the dotted line to excise it. 4) Use the forceps to remove it.

After that, you need to fix the wound you left.



All you have to do is use the forceps to place one of these patches, and then apply gel to it. In this operation, small tumours will appear when you reveal the large ones, so it's most efficient to laser them just before applying the patch. That way you can just slather gel over everything and all the wounds are taken care of at once.

That's all there is to this operation. Once you've taken care of all four tumours, you close the incision to finish.



This was another easy operation, but things pick up and become more interesting quickly from here.

OPERATION END



This time, my sin was forgetting to keep vitals up. The last bonus requires them to stay above 75 at all times. As you can imagine, that's easy to do as long as you pay attention to them. Getting Cools isn't a specific requirement here, but you'll want to do it for points. If you memorize the locations of the tumours, you can do it even faster.



It's not too hard to do well on this operation provided you pay more attention than I did.



Eugene: I'm glad I decided to go through with it after all!

Marcy: If anyone else had performed the operation, I doubt it would have gone so well.

Eugene: Yeah, you guys were amazing! I'll be sure to ask for you two next time I have an operation done.

This is way too much praise, frankly.

Valerie: Do you think there will be a "next time" here at Montgomery Memorial?

Markus: For me, there will.

Valerie: I thought you'd say that.

That's all for this episode. Next time: A brand new type of operation. See ya!