After exiting the building, Doctor Solace and Vestal walk towards the Jeep ambulance and drive towards the main facilites. Sure it might look like a small island, but Vestal has insisted on taking the Jeep. Well, she is exhausted with all the bombardments and inspections, so it's reasonable that she no longer has any energy to walk. It's been a very stressful day for her and Akashi hasn't been of much help either. If she hadn't been slacking off, maybe the job would have been finished by now. But yet, Akashi instead decides to lie around in her shop and not do anything other than sit on a chair behind a cahsier's desk and collect the money from her customers. Not that it would be a big deal, but she could get up and actually do some work. It would have also helped her physical health by moving around even just a little bit. Maybe DS needs to do a medical checkup on her as well. It might be too minimal to be considered a serious health issue, but even so, it's his responsibility. For now, he'll just proceed with the inspection he asked for.
-'Well, that was something', says DS as he opens the left door of the Jeep. 'For a moment there, I thought it would escalate to a standoff'.
-'Her Majesty is always suspicious of new faces, especially males', replies Vestal as she opens the right side door. 'After all, she's the commander of Azur Lane, so she's concerned about the safety of everyone'.
-'I don't doubt that, but going as far as to suspect a hospital ship is a little bit extreme', says DS, in his calm voice tone as usual. 'I am just trying to do my job, but without the head of defence's approval, how am I supposed to work? I need the green light to operate and when they do not give it to me, then I become nothing more than an observer'
-'I understand, but there are rules that exist to protect ourselves from enemy attacks as well as spies that could cause potential damage to our ear effort', replies Vestal, trying to explain.
-'I don't doubt that either', says DS, now in a little more serious voice tone. 'But how am I supposed to treat patients when I'm under surveillance all the time for the suspicion that I may be a spy? I understand the no exception rule, but this goes too far', he exclaims. The more he thinks about it, the more it reminds him of what happened back then. It was at the Austronesian Republic during the first days of the conflict. It was around the 25th of August when he was stationed at teh country's main harbor, dropping the necessary supplies for the civilians and local medical personnel, when all of a sudden, an army convoy rushed into the port and the troops looted the hospitals. While they didn't kill or kidnap any of the Red Cross personnel, it caused a serious strain in the Red Cross-Austronesian relations. And it does not end there. A few days later, around the 29th of August, the rebels launched a drone strike on the harbor, damaging and sinking several civilian ships, including Doctor Solace himself. And while the damage was minor and he managed to repel the enemy drones with his AA weapons, this caused a strain on the relations with the opposite side as well. The result was for the Red Cross to withdraw from Austronesia and set up their field hospital at the neighboring nations at the border where they knew that neither side could touch them. So disillusioned were the two sides that they didn't care who they targeted. As long as they could protect their cause, they don't care who dies and who lives. That's one of the many reasons DS came to develop a mistrust to governments and their military forces. Well, hopefully Queen Elizabeth won't make any similar mistakes if she wishes to get along with DS.
They get in the Jeep and drive towards the island's center with the ambulances and the fire tenders following. Sure it's a small island, but with cars being the most common transport from one side of the island to the other, it's much better than walking all the way. By foot, it takes nearly two hours to walk from one side to the other. By car however, that time is reduced. No wonder Illustrious prefers to take her car to go to the market or the cafe. Not that it would bother her to walk, but the cafe is all the way to the center of the island. You can't just climb the mountain without getting exhausted, a car is a better solution. And that's exactly where DS and Vestal are going now.
After about 30 minutes of driving, the convoy arrives at the top of the mountain. DS and Vestal get off the Jeep and walk towards the radar station. It's not much of a buildin, considering it's only a small, single floor house made of concrete and metal and with an old style radar, which is a rotating antenna. But that's how radar stations were built in the 1940s. Not as high tech as today, but back then, it was the most advanced technology the Allies had.
-'This is one of our radar stations', says Vestal to DS as the two walk towards the small structure. 'It can track enemy aircraft from a range of around 100 miles. It is unmanned, but it does have a few first aid boxes for our personnel that comes to inspect and repair any damaged parts'.
-'I see', replies DS in a doubtful voice tone. 'A much smaller range than my radar can cover'.
-'Why? How far can your radar track an aircraft?', asks Vestal, confused by DS' statement.
-'Around 600 kilometers. In other words, around 323 nautical miles or 372 regular miles', replies DS.
-'What? That far?', asks Vestal in complete shock. She has never heard of a radar that powerful before. Usually the longest range of a radar on a warship or at land does not exceed 120 miles. But for DS to be equipped with such an advanced radar system, that sounds not only absurd, but very ahead of time. Sure it's not impossible to have such a system, but the technology that the Azur Lane faction uses is years behind. It will require them at least another 30 to 40 years to be able to build a radar like the one DS uses. Then again, DS is a male ship, so anything is possible with him. If she's to believe the statements of the Bulin sisters, then DS is by far the most powerful ship ever, even if he's just a transport ship.
-'Yup, that far', replies DS. 'Not only that, my radar can track aircraft and ships, as well as submarines and land vehicles. In other words, it's a combination of a radar and a sonar at the same time'.
This shocks Vestal even more. A radar that functions as a sonar as well? That has never existed before, but given how powerful DS is from what she has seen so far, it's not impossible with him. If Azur Lane could have a radar like that, then they could have sunk the Siren fleet and end the war with the Crimson Axis much sooner. But it looks like it will be years until then, and by that time the war will be probably over. So far, they have to use whatever they have at their disposal.
They walk inside the small structure and Vestal leads him to a tiny room. Inside there is a table, a chair, a radio, an old screen, and two first aid kits hanging from the walls. Not much of a radar station, but still effective in its own proper way. So that's whatt such stations used to look like in the Second World War. Not as surprising as it should be. Comparing it to what DS himself uses, this is way too big. Even his radar system is way too tiny. It's pretty impressive what advanced technology from the 21st century can do and how far it has outclassed its WW2 counterpart.
-'As you can see, we have two first aid kits hanging from the walls near the chair', says Vestal, pointing at the two first aid kits.
-'Just those two?', asks DS.
-'Yeah, just those two', replies Vestal. 'It's not like there's more than one or two individuals here. Usually, as I mentioned, the station is unmanned, but one of us can act as backup operators'.
-'I see', says DS. 'What do they contain? I aks because I want to make sure they are made to comply with the medical standards'.
-'It contains bandages, ammonia, morphine, iodine, scissors, chloroform, basically the main medicine we would use in emergencies', explains Vestal.
-'Similar to what I use in first aid then', says DS. 'Though I must say, they lack a lot of the medicine my first aid kit has'.
-'Is that so?', asks Vestal, clearly unimpressed by DS' statement.
-'Yup, and I'll prove it to you right away', replies DS and places his first aid kit on the table near him. He then opens it up and takes out the medicines one by one, explaining them in the process. First, he takes out a small black shoulder/arm belt and begins explaining. 'This is a tourniquet. It works by wrapping it around the body part near the bleeding body part. You then tighten it as hard as possible. That way, the blood supply will stop and will reduce the bleeding if not stop it'.
-'Impressive', says Vestal, now smiling. 'I didn't know a belt could be that powerful to stop a bleeding'.
-'It's not like any belt', continues DS. 'It's made specifically for that reason. A regular belt wouldn't work. And even if it did, it wouldn't last long before the victim would start bleeding again'.
-'I see. Incredible, just incredible', says Vestal.
-'Another first aid item we carry in the Red Cross is the chest seal', continues DS as he takes out a small bag. 'It's meant for chest wounds such as bullet wounds, stabs and shrapnel, yu name it. You just place it on the wound at the chest and that allows the air to enter regularly, allowing the victim to keep breathing'.
-'Amazing', says Vestal, clearly shocked by DS' description.
She didn't know there were such surgical devices that could provide treatment in a matter of minutes. The more DS continues to explain what each medicine and device are, the more she is amazed and surprised. In fact, she is so amazed that she begins to take notes as to what each medicine does and how each device works. Compared to what she has and what she uses, all this medical knowledge and technology are way ahead of their time. Even her own treatments and discoveries cannot be compared to what DS has and uses. If she could use some of DS achievements, then she could revolutionize the entire healthcare of Azur Lane.
-'And that concludes my description of a modern first aid kit', says DS as puts the devices and midcines back in the box.
-'Impressive. Your first aid kit really is something', says Vestal as she closes her notebook. 'It's much more advanced than what we have here'.
-'Well, your medical research is at least 20 to 30 years behind in comparison to my research', says DS as he continues to explain. 'To be honest, most of the medicine used in my timeline was first discovered around the 1960s to 70s. Some medicine was even discovered much later, around the 80s and 90s, with various upgrades and improvements'.
-'It's amazing what medical research has achieved in your timeline', says Vestal, trying to hold back her excitement.
-'I can teach you the development of a few of those medicines if you want', says DS. He knows that revolutionizing the healthcare earlier than the year it is expected to happen can cause various alterations to the timeline, but compared to some more serious consequences, the damage to the space time continium is too small.
-'That would be a great idea', says Vestal. 'I have a lot more to learn about medicine than I thought'.
-'I can start a medical training program for you and anybody else who is studying medicine or any other medical work', says DS, still in his low voice tone.
-'Great idea, I'll let Akashi and Her Majesty know', says Vestal in excitement.
-'Inspection first, program later', says DS, reminding Vestal that they still have work to do in the island.
-'You're right, I guess I forgot', says Vestal, giggling, as if she's trying to make a joke.
-'Back to the Jeep then', says DS, trying to joke back, even though he was unable to come up with a clever joke.
After having packed up his first aid kit, DS and Vestal exit the radar station and walk towards the Jeep. So far the inspection has gone smoothly. Not what he expected to find in a 1940s radar station, but at least they are complying with the medical safety manuals. It's definitely better than nothing. Looks like he's got a lot of work to do here. With the medical facilities and healthcare systems here being so outdated compared to his own, not only they will not be of any use, they might not save any lives at all. Good thing he suggested the training program. That way he will at least be able to fill a large gap in the healthcare of this island. He's not sure how long it will take him to revolutionize the entire medical facilities, but hopefully, he will at least have made good use of his knowledge and technology without altering much of the timeline. For now, he should be concerned about finishing the inspection, just like he said so.
(And that's all for today's chapter. I apologize for not updating the story for so long, but I've been busy with universtity and the fire service. Let me know what you think in the comments below. Also, feel free to check out my Youtube (Literature Defense Force), (Serres TV), and Dailymotion (PeacekeeperLDF) channels. Until then, see you next time. Remember, your opinion is always important).
(P.S. Instead of links, from now on, I will be writing the names of my Youtube and Dailymotion channels to make them easier to find. You can also click on the links to my profile, but it only works from either a laptop or a PC).