The Staff

DHARMA Initiative Medical Facility

The Staff is a DHARMA Initiative station which was used as a medical facility. After the Purge, the Others appear to have used the station infrequently for the treatment of pregnant women.

Per its location on the blast door map, the Staff appears to be located somewhere on the western portion of the Island. From the survivor’s camp, it takes about a half a day or so to get there and back. No orientation film for the Staff has been found, and unlike the Swan and the Arrow stations, there is no “quarantine” warning on the station’s doors.

Healing

Childbirth

Water (Fertility)

Station History

DHARMA Initiative

The Staff was built at some point prior 1973. Clearly a medical station of some form, it is not entirely clear what its original purpose was within the DHARMA Initiative. It should be noted that the Staff was located well away from other DHARMA facilities – and clearly it was not used for day-to-day medical issues of DHARMA personnel as the Barracks had its own infirmary. DHARMA personnel from the Staff were seen performing vaccinations upon Ben’s arrival on the Island in 1973.

   

Claire later observed a number of similar vaccine vials stamped with the station logo when she was abducted by the Others. Additionally medical kits stenciled with the Staff logo have been found at other stations across the Island. (“Maternity Leave”)  (“Enter 77”)  (“The Man Behind the Curtain”)

After young Ben was shot, Roger Linus was sent from the Barracks infirmary out to the Staff for additional medical supplies. (“Whatever Happened, Happened”)

The Staff is clearly marked on the blast door map along with several annotations. One describes that the station was abandoned in 1985 after a “AH/MDG incident” or possibly because of a failure of the Cerberus system. Another nearby notation reads: “But could be #6” — although it is unclear if this note refers to the Staff. (“Lockdown”).

The Others

   

The Others were aware of and used the Staff for a significant period of time after the Purge — specifically for continuing research as to why pregnant women were dying on the Island. Juliet was one of their researchers and clearly had visited the Staff numerous occasions. The Others appear to have also been using the station as a staging area where they would don their disguises – designed to hide their sophisticated lifestyle from the survivors. (“Maternity Leave”)  (“D.O.C.”)

   

After her abduction, Claire was taken by Ethan to the Staff where she was kept drugged, given injections, and underwent at least one surgical procedure: the insertion of an unknown implant which could be controlled remotely. Ostensibly abducted as a research control, it appeared from Claire’s perspective that the Others were working towards taking her unborn child from her at the facility. After her escape, the Others moved most of the medical equipment into a hidden vault and abandoned the facility, possibly fearing she might return with the other survivors. (“Maternity Leave”)

The Survivors

   

The Staff was later revisited by Claire, along with Kate and Rousseau, as they searched for answers about Claire’s abduction, the vaccine, and Rousseau’s missing child, Alex. (“Maternity Leave”)

   

At a later point, Juliet took Sun to the station to give her an ultrasound and revealed the existence of the hidden vault. (“D.O.C.”)

   

Another party consisting of Jin, Sun, Daniel Faraday and Charlotte Lewis visited the station later, seeking surgical instruments and other supplies to help Jack. (“Something Nice Back Home”)

The Station

The Staff complex was located underground and appears to consist of a number of rooms branching off from a central corridor.

Main entrance

   

Two large doors were set at an angle into a hillside akin to a cellar door form the main entrance to the station. The doors prominently displayed the the Staff logo. When revisited by Claire, the Others had concealed the entrance with a plastic tarp which was further covered with leaves and branches. Beyond the doors, a short flight of stairs led down to a ramp descending to the central corridor. Adjacent to the stairs was a small locker which contained working flashlights. (“Maternity Leave”)

The Staff also appeared to be equipped with some form of loudspeaker system capable of broadcasting an alarm which could be heard quite some distance away from the station. (“Maternity Leave”)

Corridor

   

A total of at least seven doors were visible in the Staff’s corridor: a pair of double doors at the far end leading to an operating theater / examination room, two doors leading into the nursery, a door leading to the locker room, a pair of doors facing each other leading to unknown rooms, and another smaller doorway stenciled “Escape Hatch.” The corridor’s ceiling apparently sustained some severe damage at some time after the station’s abandonment by the DHARMA Initiative.

Kate used what appeared to be a circuit breaker to restore power when searching the Staff with Claire. (“Maternity Leave”)

Operating theater

   

One of the major rooms in the Staff was used as an operating theater.

Before Flight 815 crashed, the Others, including Juliet, Ethan, and Goodwin, performed surgery in this room on a pregnant woman named Sabine. It was implied that a number of other similar surgeries had taken place here. (“One of Us”)

During her captivity, Claire was given prenatal care in this same room by Ethan. She was also injected with an unknown substance labeled CR 481516-23 42 purportedly as a vaccination for her and the baby. Later, the Others appeared to be preparing the room for surgery – what Claire believed was the induced childbirth of Aaron. (“Maternity Leave”)

Among the equipment visible in the room was an Acoustic Imaging 5200 ultrasound scanner, which was first marketed in 1992. There was also a freezer storage-type unit containing a large quantity of vials containing the CR 481516-23 42 solution. When the station was abandoned, this equipment was moved into the secret vault by the Others. (“Maternity Leave”)

Nursery

   

Another room in the Staff was used as a nursery, where Claire was kept during her captivity. It was decorated and stocked and was apparently where Aaron would live for an indefinite amount of time. This room also had its contents stored in the secret vault after the Others abandoned the station, although traces of the wall decorations were still visible.

Among the furniture in the room was a crib that had a mobile with Oceanic airplanes hanging from it. The plane mobile played the song “Catch a Falling Star”, which Claire requested be sung to the baby after his adoption. The crib in the nursery was the same crib seen by Claire in a dream where she searched for her baby. (“Raised by Another”) Also in the nursery was a picture of a boat on the wall resembling the boat used in the Others’ abduction of Walt. (“Maternity Leave”)  (“Exodus, Part 2”)

Locker room

   

One of the rooms in the Staff contained lockers: at least two rows of double-tiered lockers, and one row of single-tiered lockers, all of which all had the Staff Logo stamped on their exteriors. Kate examined one of these lockers and discovered several disguises worn by the Others, including the wool cap Tom wore when he kidnapped Walt. Also among the contents of the locker were a brown leather case containing an old DHARMA pharmaceutical bottle labeled “Theatrical Glue” and a fake beard, also presumably the one worn by Tom. (“Maternity Leave”)  (“Exodus, Part 2”)

Juliet used a tape recorder hidden in the locker room to communicate with Ben during her time living with the survivors. Also, a secret vault could be accessed from the locker room. (“D.O.C.”)

Vault

   

Behind one of the walls of the locker room was a secret, vault-like chamber. The chamber had a door approximately one foot thick and secured by a series of solid-metal cylinders, each several inches in diameter. The chamber was accessed by throwing a large switch hidden inside one of the lockers located in front of the door. The vault had electric lighting and a sink providing running water.

When Juliet led Sun into the vault, it contained all of the medical equipment and nursery furniture seen during Claire’s time at the Staff. Sun questioned why the chamber was hidden, but Juliet told her not to worry about it. After Sun pressured Juliet, she admitted the room was where the Other’s women were brought to die. (“D.O.C.”)

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Associated LOST Characters

Primary Symbolism: Healing & Medical Deities

Healing

ASCLEPIUS

CHIRON

PAEAN

KHONSU

Secondary Symbolism: Childbirth, Motherhood & Fertility (Water) Deities

Childbirth	TAWERET	RERET	NEPHTHYS	HATHOR	SATIS
Water (Fertility)	KHNUM	HAPY	MNEMOSYNE	WEDJARENES

DHARMA STATION (Symbolic Deities Reference)

Decoded LOST Character (Ethan Rom)

Asclepius is the god of medicine and healing in ancient Greek religion. Asclepius represents the healing aspect of the medical arts; his daughters are Hygieia (“Hygiene”), Iaso (“Medicine”), Aceso (“Healing”), Aglæa/Ægle (“Healthy Glow”), and Panacea (“Universal Remedy”). The rod of Asclepius, a snake-entwined staff, remains a symbol of medicine today, although sometimes the caduceus, or staff with two snakes, is mistakenly used instead. He was associated with the Roman/Etruscan god Vediovis. He was one of Apollo‘s sons, sharing with Apollo the epithet Paean (“the Healer”). Some historians consider that Asclepius probably was a real person, a very skilled doctor who treated people in Greece in about 1200BC.

Source 

Caduceus (Herald’s Staff)

The caduceus (“herald’s staff” ) is the staff carried by Hermes in Greek mythology. The same staff was also borne by heralds in general, for example by Iris, the messenger of Hera. It is a short staff entwined by two serpents, sometimes surmounted by wings. In Roman iconography it was often depicted being carried in the left hand of Mercury, the messenger of the gods, guide of the dead and protector of merchants, shepherds, gamblers, liars and thieves.

As a symbolic object it represents Hermes (or the Roman Mercury), and by extension trades, occupations or undertakings associated with the god. In later Antiquity the caduceus provided the basis for the astrological symbol representing the planet Mercury. Thus, through its use in astrology and alchemy, it has come to denote the elemental metal of the same name.

By extension of its association with Mercury/Hermes, the caduceus is also a recognized symbol of commerce and negotiation, two realms in which balanced exchange and reciprocity are recognized as ideals. This association is ancient, and consistent from the Classical period to modern times.The caduceus is also used as a symbol representing printing, again by extension of the attributes of Mercury (in this case associated with writing and eloquence).

The caduceus is sometimes mistakenly used as a symbol of medicine and/or medical practice, especially in North America, because of widespread confusion with the traditional medical symbol, the rod of Asclepius, which has only a single snake and no wings.

Mythology

The Homeric hymn to Hermes relates how Hermes offered his lyre fashioned from a tortoise shell as compensation for the cattle he stole from his half brother Apollo. Apollo in return gave Hermes the caduceus as a gesture of friendship. The association with the serpent thus connects Hermes to Apollo, as later the serpent was associated with Asclepius, the “son of Apollo”. The association of Apollo with the serpent is a continuation of the older Indo-European dragon-slayer motif. Wilhelm Heinrich Roscher (1913) pointed out that the serpent as an attribute of both Hermes and Asclepius is a variant of the “pre-historic semi-chthonic serpent hero known at Delphi as Python”, who in classical mythology is slain by Apollo.

One Greek myth of origin of the caduceus is part of the story of Tiresias, who found two snakes copulating and killed the female with his staff. Tiresias was immediately turned into a woman, and so remained until he was able to repeat the act with the male snake seven years later. This staff later came in to the possession of the god Hermes, along with its transformative powers.

Another myth suggests that Hermes (or Mercury) saw two serpents entwined in mortal combat. Separating them with his wand he brought about peace between them, and as a result the wand with two serpents came to be seen as a sign of peace.

In Rome, Livy refers to the caduceator who negotiated peace arrangements under the diplomatic protection of the caduceus he carried.

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Decoded LOST Character (Horace Goodspeed)

Apollo is one of the most important and diverse of the Olympian deities in Greek and Roman mythology. The ideal of the kouros (a beardless, athletic youth), Apollo has been variously recognized as a god of light and the sun, truth and prophecy, medicine, healing, plague, music, poetry, arts and more. Apollo is the son of Zeus and Leto, and has a twin sister, the chaste huntress Artemis. Apollo is known in Greek-influenced Etruscan mythology as Apulu. Apollo was worshiped in both ancient Greek and Roman religion, and in the modern Greco–Roman Neopaganism.

As the patron of Delphi (Pythian Apollo), Apollo was an oracular god—the prophetic deity of the Delphic Oracle. Medicine and healing were associated with Apollo, whether through the god himself or mediated through his son Asclepius, yet Apollo was also seen as a god who could bring ill-health and deadly plague. Amongst the god’s custodial charges, Apollo became associated with dominion over colonists, and as the patron defender of herds and flocks. As the leader of the Muses (Apollon Musegetes) and director of their choir, Apollo functioned as the patron god of music and poetry. Hermes created the lyre for him, and the instrument became a common attribute of Apollo. Hymns sung to Apollo were called paeans.

Healer God & Protector from the evil

The function of Apollo as a “healer” is connected with Paean (Παιών-Παιήων) the physician of the Gods in Iliad,who seems to come from a more primitive religion. Paeοn is probably connected with the Mycenean Pa-ja-wo,but the etymology is the only evidence. He did not have a separate cult,but he was the personification of the holy magic-song sang by the magicians that was supposed to cure the diseases. Later the Greeks knew the original meaning of the relevant song “paeαn” (παιάν). The magicians were also called “seer-doctors” (ιατρομάντεις) and they used an exstatic prophetic art which was used exactly by the god Apollo at the oracles. In Ilias Apollo is the healer under the gods, but he is also the bringer of the diseases and of death with his arrows, in a similar way with the function of the Vedic terrible god of diseases Rudra. He sends a terrible plague (λοιμός) to the Achaeans. The god who sends a disease can also prevent from it, therefore when it stops they make a purifying ceremony and they offer him an “hecatomb” to keep away the evil. When the oath of his priest appeases, they pray and with a song they call their own god, the beautiful Paean. Some common epithets of Apollo as a healer are “paion”(παιών:touching), “epikourios” (επικουρώ:help), “oulios” (ουλή:cured wound) and “loimios” (λοiμός:plague). In classical times his srong function in popular religion was to keep away the evil, therefore he was called “apotropaios” (αποτρέπω:to divert) and “alexikakos” (αλέξω-κακό:defend, throw away the evil) In later writers, the word, usually spelled “Paean”, becomes a mere epithet of Apollo in his capacity as a god of healing.

Homer illustrated Paeon the god, and the song both of apotropaic thanksgiving or triumph. Such songs were originally addressed to Apollo, and afterwards to other gods: to Dionysus, to Apollo Helios, to Apollo’s son Asclepius the healer. About the 4th century BCE, the paean became merely a formula of adulation; its object was either to implore protection against disease and misfortune, or to offer thanks after such protection had been rendered. It was in this way that Apollo had become recognised as the god of music. Apollo’s role as the slayer of the Python led to his association with battle and victory; hence it became the Roman custom for a paean to be sung by an army on the march and before entering into battle, when a fleet left the harbour, and also after a victory had been won.

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