Luke's Wampa injuries

[Enigma]

What was the extent of his injuries when he was stuck out in the cold and his encounter with the wampa and how long was he out in the Bacta tank?

The reason I am asking is that over at asvs.us there is a topic about ST and SW medical technology and of course they are saying over there that ST med tech is superior. I'm trying to prove otherwise but I need help on the subject especially about Luke's recovery time from his ordeal in Hoth.

ST vs SW med tech

[Wing Commander MAD]

I am not sure if we are ever even told any of these things. His wampa injuries seemed to be more superficial (possibly with a concusssion). All the wampa really did was cold clock him, drag him and his tauntaun to the cave, and stick him to the cieling. I'd wager that most of the medical treatment he recieved was for frostbite and hypothermia/exposure. There really doesn't seem to be any indication of a time frame for how long he was treated in the actual film. Unless its stated in one of the novels/scripts I really don't think there is any way to know. Your best bet may be to find what modern day treatment for severe exposure would be and how long it would take. That at least would give you some basepoint to start with, after which you might be able to roughly extapolate something based on the capabilites cliamed and observed elsewhere in the canon.

[Havok]

Well the bacta tank didn't heal his scars. At the most he probably only had a concussion from the Wampa strike outside of the actual cuts and bruises. The real injury would have been the exposure and hypothermia.
I never understood why Luke would have needed to even go in bacta just to get over some hypothermia. I always thought that the tank was just a solution that warmed the body safely and evenly. You don't need magic liquid to do something you can do with blankets and a hot tub.
Luke's hypothermia must have been pretty bad though. He was in cold weather gear, and wasn't exposed to the elements for all that long, but Han immediately began warming him when he found him, in the taun taun and presumably while they slept over night (Brokeback Hoth? ), and he still needed to be heated up for a while back at Echo Base. However it doesn't look like they were warming him intravenously though, so maybe that is where the bacta comes in.

This is an interesting read... http://www.starwarsholidayspecial.com/s ... /tank.html

[Enigma]

Kind of a side track, was there anyone in Starfleet that had scars? If you check out the link in my OP you'd know why. They think that ST doctors can heal people to the point of them not having any scars.

[Havok]

Just post pictures of all the bald people in Star Trek. That should win you the argument. Actually, I am positive that Crusher has commented on the fact that she can do procedures without leaving scars.

Lets see, Klingons have scars, but they want them. You could point to the MU in ST as I'm sure I remember people with scars there, but that is pretty weak as it is an AU and one in which technology like that would be severely restricted.

LaForge could be an example of inferior med tech as they can't seem to 'cure' his blindness. But on the other hand, Vader didn't get repaired either. They didn't even try putting him in bacta. He is an extreme example of injuries though. Maybe someone with some more EU knowledge can chime in.

[Havok]

OK, I'm not a member there so I couldn't reply there...

The quantity of information they have is less important then the quality.

Star Wars clearly has more quantity. Quality wise, what we see in the movies isn't all that impressive.

The wounds Luke received would have had him up an about in a few hours at most had he been treated on a UFP starship.

Couple things here. Luke was not on the flagship of the leading power in the galaxy. He was in a makeshift rebel base that was equipped with gear the was not top of the line. Also, we don't know how extensive Luke's injuries were and unless we have seen ST heal up some serious hypothermia, (as I think it was) there is no basis for this comparison or claim.

Dermal regenerators close cuts within seconds.

Speed is not the defining factor of being good. Luke's cybernetic hand showed no visible scarring where it was attached. Also, that hand was able to transfer touch, sensitivity and feeling perfectly to Luke's brain, which indicates tech that I don't think that Star Trek even comes close to.

They can mend a broken bone within minutes, and it will barely be sore the next day (Worf's wrist in a TNG episode).

We have no movie evidence of what Star Wars can do here. EU lovers can chime in on this.

Burns are treated and in a few minutes, they're not even there.

The only burn evidence we have is Vader. The argument can be made that his injuries were left that way purposely, but the idea that Vader himself, would not want to heal them is ridiculous as they led to a direct weakness. I would say here that ST may have shown superior ability, however, we have never seen anywhere near the injuries that Anakin suffered in ST that I am aware of. So again, the comparison may not be applicable.

And these procedures leave no scars...

Again, point to Luke's wrist.

I will give you that since they have the medical knowledge of the SW galaxy (or what parts of the Galaxy the Empire, and the Old Republic before it, covered), they can treat more races then in ST, but that's simply because they have more races in the Empire.

This is retarded. The idea that SW can only treat more races because they have more races is dumb. ST has shown to have just as many, if not more races than SW. Also the idea that ST has more medical expertise only being 300 years ahead of us, as compared to 40,000 years of an intergalactic spanning civilization is monumentally stupid. Just the cloning facilities on Kamino demonstrate more advanced medical tech then the Federation has.

Anyway, the point is that there's basically nothing, except for cybernetic implants, that SW docs can do that the Federation cannot do better or faster...

Cloning, unless you are going to say that the Federation's ban on cloning extends to the Romulan Star Empire or the Borg? Only the Founders show parity with Star Wars cloning tech, and may even be more advanced as the Jem Hadar age much faster, but that is not Federation tech.

As for cloning, the only reason it isn't done in the Federation is also because it has been made illegal because of ethical concerns...

This may be true, but until there is an example of Federation cloning, it isn't a viable comparison.

[Enigma]

But they'll counter with the scars on Luke's face. Plus I thought bacta was supposed to eliminate scars?

Also, how long since Luke's immersion in the bacta tank, did Vader's fleet arrive? Was it within the same day?

[Feil]

Kind of a side track, was there anyone in Starfleet that had scars? If you check out the link in my OP you'd know why. They think that ST doctors can heal people to the point of them not having any scars.

Even if you found someone with obvious scarring, that wouldn't prove anything about Starfleet's medical technology. Plenty of people today have scars that could have been prevented, but weren't, because they didn't care enough, or couldn't afford, to get the wound stitched up properly by a doctor.

[Havok]

But they'll counter with the scars on Luke's face. Plus I thought bacta was supposed to eliminate scars?

Again, bacta is more explored in the EU, and that is not my forte. A quick jaunt to Wookiepedia may shed some more light on it.

Also, how long since Luke's immersion in the bacta tank, did Vader's fleet arrive? Was it within the same day?

Uh, I don't think so, but it is possible. Han and Chewie go out and kill the probe droid right after Luke and Leia make with the incest when he gets all cleaned up after the bacta bath. Then there is the cut to Vader and the Executor and the little argument between Ozzel and Piet. Vader orders the fleet to Hoth and then they are show the base getting ready to evacuate and Luke getting ready to fly. The time of day looks to be the same as when they find Han and Luke out on the frozen tundra... so unless Hoth has a long rotational cycle, it may be the next day around the same time.

[avatarxprime]

Burns are treated and in a few minutes, they're not even there.

The only burn evidence we have is Vader. The argument can be made that his injuries were left that way purposely, but the idea that Vader himself, would not want to heal them is ridiculous as they led to a direct weakness. I would say here that ST may have shown superior ability, however, we have never seen anywhere near the injuries that Anakin suffered in ST that I am aware of. So again, the comparison may not be applicable.

Vader is stated to have been undergoing meditative force trances to heal his wounds, which managed to restore a decent amount of his body if you consider what he looked like going in the armor at the end of Ep III vs taking his helmet off in Ep VI. Unfortunately I don't have any information about other attempts at standard medical technology.

Anyway, the point is that there's basically nothing, except for cybernetic implants, that SW docs can do that the Federation cannot do better or faster...

Cloning, unless you are going to say that the Federation's ban on cloning extends to the Romulan Star Empire or the Borg? Only the Founders show parity with Star Wars cloning tech, and may even be more advanced as the Jem Hadar age much faster, but that is not Federation tech.

As for cloning, the only reason it isn't done in the Federation is also because it has been made illegal because of ethical concerns...

This may be true, but until there is an example of Federation cloning, it isn't a viable comparison.

Star Wars cloning tech is probably not as advanced as it could be given things like the Clone Wars and Force Madness making people step away from that technology. Even Palpatine with all of credits and scientists he could throw at the problem of cloning quickly only went so far as the Spaarti cylinders for quick cloning. It took Thrawn discovering the ysalamiri to allow SW tech to clone individuals rapidly by countering the problem of Force Madness. It's possible that if allowed to mature with the introduction of the ysalamiri that SW cloning tech would vastly improve since they overcome the most significant hurdle to producing clones quickly.

[JGregory32]

As for cloning, the only reason it isn't done in the Federation is also because it has been made illegal because of ethical concerns...

This is total garbage, transporters rely on executing people at one place and cloning them at another, the Federation is cloning thousands of people daily through the transporter.

[Srelex]

As for cloning, the only reason it isn't done in the Federation is also because it has been made illegal because of ethical concerns...

This is total garbage, transporters rely on executing people at one place and cloning them at another, the Federation is cloning thousands of people daily through the transporter.

Given the conflicting evidence, I think the precise manner of transportation is rather muddled.

[Ugolino]

That, and they pretend it doesn't work that way...