Stimpak

A stimpak (occasionally referred to as a Stimpack, Stim pack or simply Stims ), short for stimulation delivery package, is a type of hand-held medication used for boosting the body's own regenerative properties.

Background
A wonder of pre-War science, stimpaks are typically syringes filled with a mixture of healing agents and stimulants, allowing the user to boost their own body's natural regenerative functions. In most cases, it leads to an almost instantaneous regeneration of wounds. The syringe is equipped with a gauge for quickly identifying the state of the contents and can be used either in an intravenous or intramuscular fashion. Although now commonly used for healing bullet holes and stab wounds, stimpaks were employed professionally through Auto-Docs (in conjunction with Med-X and other painkillers) for postoperative care and recovery. John Cassidy speaks of their efficacy, expressing gratitude that millions were produced before the Great War, still abundant several centuries after.

Stimpaks can also be used to treat physical conditions, such as a heart condition, but only temporarily. However, the basic stimpak is designed for use on minor wounds, as the soup of healing medication is ineffective at treating major trauma. A stimpak also does not prevent scarring from excessive third-degree burns or additional extensive scarring as it simply boosts natural regenerative functions. Expiration is a concern for those who use stimpaks, but other than giving a weaker boost to healing, they function just as an unexpired stimpak. Chemists with sufficient knowledge can create new stimpaks. 

To this end, more advanced variants of the stimpak were developed. The super stimpak is the most common variant, containing an additional vial of more drastic healing chems, dramatically increasing the healing effect. However, the healing effect will eventually cause minor trauma to the tissues healed due to the potency of the drug. More advanced variants, such as the ultra stimpak, offer even more powerful healing capabilities, at a proportionally higher eventual damage to the tissue. 

Health dispensers used during the Anchorage Reclamation, manufactured by Lee Rapid Pharmaceuticals, have an identical delivery method, which hints that stimpaks are also a product of the company developed from previous health dispensers used in the Sino-American War. The fictional nature of the simulation should also be taken into consideration, however, as it is possible Lee Rapid and their dispensers never existed.

Stimpak


A stimpak is an autoinjector loaded with a variety of healing medications and stimulants. By injecting the stimpak, one drastically increases one's own recuperative functions and gains lost hit points almost instantly. 

Super stimpak


The advanced version of the stimpak boasts stronger healing drugs, delivered both via the syringe and a tributary ampule, both connected to a leather strap allowing to securely affix the contraption to the injection area. The analogue gauge displaying information is on top of the ampule. The powerful nature of the drugs used means that the delayed shock deals a minor amount of damage to the user after some time. It is a fairly rare item in the wasteland, usually only manufactured by high tech settlements like Vault City.

Auto-inject (super) stimpak


The auto-inject (super) stimpak is a modified stimpak which monitors vital signs, allowing for timely emergency treatment. It is used automatically from the player character's inventory when their hit points drop below 50% (25% auto-inject super stimpak) of current maximum level.

Stimpak diffuser


The stimpak diffuser releases a healing gas into the air which heals both the player character and their nearby teammates.

Curie's healthpak


Curie's medicine is a potent concoction developed by her using a genetically bred strain of mutfruit, strain 17. Mutfruit naturally produces a unique sugar compound that stimulates platelet production in the body and rapidly closes wounds, utilizing this sugar compound from strain 17 allowed her to improve the restorative properties of stimpaks. The only downside to this is that wild mutfruits are largely unviable due to becoming irradiated and creating toxins; diluting the sugar compound and dulling the efficiency. The only way to full utilize the sugar compound is to cultivate strain 17 in a fully sterile lab environment to ensure purity.

Expired stimpak


A stimpak that has not been stored in proper conditions and is thus not as effective centuries after it was manufactured.

Ultra stimpak


The ultra stimpak is an advanced version of super stimpak and a highly powerful healing chem, providing immediate healing of major wounds and boosting the body's regenerative functions over time. Due to the very powerful nature of the chemicals used, ultra stimpaks will cause damage after a period of time.

The ultra stimpak is made up of two regular stimpaks, with one stimpak connected to a wrist belt for immediate injection, and one connected to a breathing mask, allowing for the healing drug to be administrated as gas.

Health dispenser


Health dispensers are stationary health stations found in the Anchorage Reclamation simulation. Although immobile, they are reusable and more powerful than regular stimpaks, as they restore health to full no matter how low it is.

Super Duper stimpak
An even more superior version of super stimpak.

Behind the scenes
The term "stimpack" does also appear in other games, such as StarCraft or Doom.