(Where did you find that? Because I looked through https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Starfleet_General_Orders_and_Regulations and there was nothing relating to distress calls there.)
They can be healed by anything that specifically targets mechanical units - including that DOT-7 drone with the repair field from a few events back, though being a HoT...it's not very impressive. But it was the only option I had back when Operation Wolf was available for the event.
(I could've sworn there was a rule or order of some kind that said Starfleet vessels were required to respond to any and all distress calls if physically able to do so...but I can't find any sign of it.)
And if you have the Delta Megapack, even THAT little advantage is nullified, because you get access to a boff that has both SRO and SS and one that has SRO and SI.
Marrok: Well, that wasn't technically a real black hole - first of all, natural black holes don't create lightning storms in space, and second of all...those ones were generated via Red Matter, so they're artificial - also, wormholes are basically just black holes that have twisted themselves up so much, they create a safe…
Marrok: Well, you apparently are.... Alex: Why am I not surprised? *his ears perk as he listens in on the conversation drifting out of the room and speaks up loud enough for everyone inside to hear* Yes, kindly do not make a scene on the station, please - we just got it fixed and there are civilians onboard. Let her go…
Marrok: Yeah, funny how the more advanced a species gets technologically, the easier it is to trip them up with simple things. I think the famous Scotty once said something similar - something about plumbing.
I would rather they just make doffs levelable - complete so many missions successfully and they go from white, to green, to blue...and so on, all the way up to gold.
Marrok: How'd they get power back up so fast? I blew out their primary power distribution relay with a Mach 9 gauss round. Needless to say, that's not damage that can be easily - or quickly - fixed.
Marrok: And I would have done the same thing if someone had asked for a selfie with the Ark of the Covenant or the Shroud of Turin or something like that - objects of religious significance shouldn't be treated as photo-ops. *he's interrupted by a chirping as the PAW finishes decoding the patterns of the particles encoded…
Marrok: We found the Voyager disk - and something else too; my PAW picked up concentrated particles of an unknown energy type embedded in various parts of the exterior.
*Marrok shrugs and beelines straight for the bridge, Voyager disk in paw, continuing to scan it while he waits for the turbolift to deposit him at his destination*
Marrok: Sure you wouldn't rather a picture of Martok triumphantly holding the sword above him while standing over your crumpled body? That would be more realistic.