New Look at Night City’s Deadliest Health Insurance: Trauma Team #1

WARNING: Major spoilers for Trauma Team Volume 1

With the recent release of the first of four upcoming Trauma Team comics, we got another inside peek at how the Trauma Team operates in Night City, as well as a glimpse into the life of one of its members. The comic was action-packed, albeit brief. We watch Nadia lose her whole team, and learn that even these medical specialists don’t make as much money as they might like. There also appears to be a main antagonist; Nadia is shocked to see that the metal-mohawked, cyber-armed man that took out her previous Trauma Team is the client she is sent to save at the end of Volume 1.

What is the Trauma Team?

For those of you unfamiliar with the Trauma Team, they are a company that provides emergency medical services, up to and including extraction from life threatening situations. These doctors come backed up by security specialists packing firepower, and an Aerodyne helicopter provides air support once it’s delivered it’s personnel.

The Trauma Team doesn’t work for free, however. From what we know of how their pricing works in the Cyberpunk 2020 Tabletop Game, your level of coverage determines how much extra you end up paying if the Trauma Team has to expend time, ammunition and equipment, or personnel to save your life. Essentially, it works like a deductible on a health insurance plan: the more you pay monthly, the less you pay when some Scav shoots you for your credits. A more expensive Trauma Team plan also means lower response times. There seem to be some differences between the Trauma Team plans from the CP2020 TTRPG and Cyberpunk 2077; unsurprising, considering the five decade gap between games.

How the Trauma Team Might Affect Gameplay

We know from a gameplay reveal in 2018 that the Trauma Team makes an appearance in CP2077, and we also learn about their “Platinum” level service, which can automatically detect when a client needs medical assistance. But what role could the Trauma Team end up playing in CDPR’s upcoming game?

For one thing, what kind of plan an NPC has, or if they have one at all, might seriously change how easy of a target they are. If as part of a quest the player has to take someone out, more caution (or more firepower) might be required for someone with a Platinum level plan. Conversely, if you know someone has a cheap plan or no plan, you don’t have to worry about rushing to finish the job before their health insurance shows up guns blazing.

It also seems possible that the player might eventually earn enough credits to get themselves a Trauma Team plan. There’s no evidence of this yet, but it was something that could be done in the tabletop version of Cyberpunk, and it’s certainly not outside the realm of possibility. Personally, the author thinks it would be an interesting mechanic to get to choose to spend credits on Trauma Team protection. It does seem like a difficult thing to code into a game, however. Trying to spawn an Aerodyne and half a dozen extra NPCs at any location the player character can take damage would be a tall order, but who knows what CD Projekt Red has up their sleeve. CDPR has confirmed we can’t join Trauma Team, but all other possibilities appear to still be on the table.

What do you think? Would you pay for Trauma Team insurance in Cyberpunk 2077? Or would you rather save your credits and protect your health the old fashioned way? If you can’t make up your mind, the next volume in the Trauma Team mini-series drops October 7th — maybe what we learn about Trauma Team in Volume 2 will help you decide if their services are truly worth the credits.