EMH Mark V (Emergency Medical Hologram)

[Lord Rahl]

EMH (Emergency Medical Hologram) Mark V

Basic Information

Race: N/A. Appearance of Earth human.

Age: N/A

Role: Emergency Medical Hologram. Assistant to Chief Medical Officer Sarvok.

Rank: N/A. Starfleet unofficial designation of Crewman.

EMH Program History

Developed in the early 2370s, the Emergency Medical Hologram (EMH), also known as the Emergency Medical Holographic program, has been in widespread use in all new Starfleet vessels, as well as an upgrade to refitted ships. The fifth version of the program, practically everything about the EMH since its genesis has seen multiple updates.

Where the addition of knowledge and technique have always been relatively easy to program, where Starfleet has had difficulty is attempting to create an acceptable personality for the EMH. Patients often complained of the EMH Mark I's sarcasm and complaining. A somewhat common joke at the time about the Mark I was, "He's not just a doctor. He's an ass too." The Mark II's programming allowed for more range of emotion but it was determined that it was too talkative and unpredictable with its emotions. It was then decided that the Mark III would have emotions based on nurturing and have a more "motherly" feel to them. Speech programming was also modified so that there would be little to no superfluous talking. While this proved to be very successful early on, complaints soon piled up about how the Mark III's constant calm and almost monotone interaction with patients and crew created its own problems. It's seeming monosyllabic speech brought about much frustration, making others believe the Mark III did not care at all. The Mark IV proved to be a much more successful program with more believable interaction and correct balance of emotion, with Starfleet having it seem more neutral in its emotions. Starfleet did consider changing the gender appearance of the EMH but since gender had not been a common complaint, it was decided not to go through with it. However, Starfleet has not said the possibility is not an option for future programs.

The Mark V is an improvement on the Mark IV in almost every way. It is programmed with approximately 7 million possible treatments from the collective information of 3,000 medical references and the experience of over 80 individual medical officers. The Mark V is also supplemented with contingency programs and adaptive programs to learn while serving as a supplement of a normal medical staff in cases of emergency. It contains 67 million gigaquads of computer memory, which is considerably more than most highly developed humanoid brains. A specialization of the Mark V is the Unknown Xeno-Medical Program (UXMP) that allows for the EMH to be more capable of treating undiscovered alien species. The EMH Mark V is also installed with a mobile holographic emitter that allows it to go outside of sickbay, however, there are many holographic emitters placed throughout the ship that allow it to materialize in practically any area of the ship. Yet another addition is the Multiple Holographic Representation Program (MHRP), allowing the EMH to be present in many places at one time. New to the Mark V, Starfleet hopes it to make ship-wide emergency situations easier to deal with.

With Starfleet's new mission of exploring the Gamma Quadrant, the Mark V has been installed in practically all starships that will be going through the Bajoran wormhole. The newly constructed USS Indefatigable includes the EMH Mark V program. The EMH will assist Chief Medical Officer Sarvok.