Inspection Part 3: The Art of Medicine

Posted on Wed Nov 20th, 2024 @ 5:19pm by Commander Scarlet Blake & Chief Warrant Officer Alexion Wylde & Commander Cornelius 'Kit' Hanlon & Lieutenant Astrid Nyx & Petty Officer 1st Class Leon Inaros
Edited on on Wed Nov 20th, 2024 @ 8:13pm

1,458 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: To Boldly Go
Location: Sickbay - Deck 7 - USS Fenrir
Timeline: Day 6, 12:50

ON - CONTINUED:

Sickbay, Deck 7

"I have to admit...I try and avoid this deck if I can," Kit said quietly to Blake as they walked, a small smile coming to him. Sickbay never had the best reputation and Kit, well...for Kit Sickbay meant that something had blown up in Engineering. So not the best place for him. But right now, it didn't matter. Inspections were part of the course for Command. He walked into sickbay, the doors opening for them.

Blake shook her head, managing to keep the slight smile that threatened held back at his admission. He hadn't needed to tell her that. She'd have bet good money on that fact before he'd even mentioned it.

Astrid had gotten most of the bay squared away in the hours before the inspection, but there were still a few last-minute tasks being attended to by her staff as the commanders entered. She sighed, but only a little. It had been harder to account for everything than she had expected. Back on the Valkerie, Dr. Voss had taken care of a lot more than Astrid had realized. So much of being in charge was doing the paperwork nobody else wanted to do, and thinking of things nobody else wanted to think about.

She brought up a smile for her Kit, which she didn't have to work at to be earnest. Then she straightened slightly for Blake and let her smile gentle into a softer and more professional expression. Starfleet didn't ask for salutes and heel clicks, but you still never knew what sort of temperament a new CO might have. Besides, they were in sickbay, and if Dr. Voss had taught Astrid anything, it was that here she was in charge.

"Welcome to sickbay, Captain."

"Thank you, Doctor, at ease," Blake nodded lightly with approval at the way Astrid had acknowledged the formality of the situation. "What is the status of your staff and Sickbay?" she asked, even as she glanced around for clues, taking the space in. The one time counsellor had spent a good deal of time working in and around sickbays; this was familiar territory for her.

"The refit left us with some kinks to work out, mainly because these new biobeds weren't connecting to the power grid correctly. I gather it was something to do with how low the draw from the previous models was." She shrugged. "But that's all. Otherwise, we have the non-replicable stocks mostly organized. I have a good team."

"Good to hear," Blake nodded firmly as she turned her attention back to the CMO, reassured to hear Astrid understood the basis of the problem that had presented itself. Not so much for the actual problem at hand; biobed power issues weren't exactly a hot topic. But it showed Astrid liked to be fully across the happenings in her Sickbay. "Have you seen them in action yet?"

Astrid nodded. "We have had some injuries already, mostly from the work crews, though some of the staff have been pushing themselves a little hard to get the ship ready. Nothing too serious. And there've been two mild colds... but a mandatory day off is all that was needed for those."

"Magic words, nothing too serious," Hanlon said with a smile. He had seen the incident reports, no major injuries just like Doctor Nyx had said. "And hopefully the colds won't spread. Still, it is tradition for half a crew to have the sniffles at a launch."

Astrid grinned at him. "It's funny, we can just about rebuild an immune system from plaster and stem cells, but medical science hasn't figured out how to do away with the common cold."

"Well, the common cold is...oh so common. I am pretty sure senior officers don't get it," Hanlon said with a straight face before he gave her a small smile.

Astrid snorted at the comment, but smiled back before returning to the topic at hand. "We'll be ready when the time comes to launch," she affirmed. "Will there be a more formal mission briefing before then?"

Blake gave her a firm and reassuring nod. She could appreciate that waiting until the last moment for a mission brief was less than comfortable. She'd never enjoyed being in that position herself. "Yes. We'll be sure to have a senior staff meeting when we get the orders through," her word choice was deliberate, to let her know that she was also in the dark for the time being without outwardly saying it. "Have you replicated medical supplies yet to make sure the power problems with the beds won't interfere with your ability to replicate supplies on mass in the case of an emergency?"

"Just what regulations call for..." Astrid eyed her new CO. She hadn't missed the roundabout way the woman had phrased the point about the briefing. Did that really mean Starfleet had kept the Commander out of the loop regarding their mission? Wasn't that... a little unorthodox? "Do you have reason to believe we'll be needing more stocked supplies than the standard amounts?"

The honest truth was that Blake had yet to be on a mission where they hadn't. But that didn't seem a particularly encouraging thing to say. "Just in case," she replied, a touch of wryness in her voice. "On that note, I'd like you to decide on which room you'd like to use as your Sickbay overflow," she added, knowing it was more usual for one of the cargo bays to simply be appointed to the CMO, but wanting it to be Astrid's choice. "Likewise for an emergency quarantine area."

Astrid tried not to read into the comment. It sounded like Blake did expect something beyond the ordinary, though. A little trill of worry fluttered in Astrid's belly. But she martialed herself. At least now, with these questions about protocol, she was on firmer ground.

"I've given some though to that, actually. I want to get permission to establish new quarantine procedures. Instead of isolating a bed here, I'd like to use one of the medical labs themselves. The security features of the labs are actually more capable than what we have in her because they're designed for, well, some pretty incredibly risky research. The containment fields are redundant, and there are manual magnetic seals as well. If we had a serious case of something infectious, it would be easy to set up a few beds and take the appropriate entry and exit precautions."

As always, her mind skipped ahead through the conversation, light as a feather now that the topic had gotten started. "As for overflow, that depends on triage, but we'd use the offices on this deck first, and then move to cargo bay three. In the event of a serious problem, that's one of the safest parts of the ship. Heavily shielded, very secure, and the bay's big enough to take care of a lot of people..." she suddenly trailed off, thinking again of the potential reasons they might need to fill the bay. "Does, ah, does that sound alright to you, Commander?" she finished, somewhat lamely.

Kit looked at her before he smiled, unable to stop it. "Write it up, put it on my desk," he said, because he wanted something like that in writing for implementation. He liked that she had clearly thought about it properly, rather than sticking with the handbook.

Dr Alexion Wylde's head tilted thoughtfully to the side as he mulled over his new Chief's plan. He liked the practicality of it. And frankly, as someone who practiced medicine rather than researched it, he didn't care one bit if it might put some researcher's nose out of joint. Yes, he could get behind that kind of thinking.

Leon glanced over at his Chief before he looked ahead. It wasn't the worst idea he had heard and he...well, he liked there being a plan. It made his shoulders relax a little.

Blake nodded firmly in agreement with her First Officer, but a faint smile was pulling at her lips. She was impressed at the thought Astrid had put into it. And while she was inclined to agree with all she'd proposed, Kit was right in terms of the process. "ASAP," she added for good measure, wanting to get it signed off. "Is there anything else we should know, Doctor?"

"Nothing else," she said with a slight smile for her new CO. "We'll be ready here."

TBC:


Lieutenant Astrid Nyx
Chief Medical Officer
USS Fenrir

Commander Cornelius 'Kit' Hanlon
First Officer
USS Fenrir

Commander Scarlet Blake
Commanding Officer
USS Fenrir

Chief Warrant Officer Alexion Wylde
Doctor
USS Fenrir
[PNPC - Blake]

Petty Officer 1st Class Leon Inaros
Nurse
USS Fenrir
[PNPC - Hanlon]

 

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