Introducing....

Posted on 18 Jul 2016 @ 7:04pm by Commander Jayla Kij

909 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Risky Business
Location: CMO's office
Timeline: MD 2 : 0900

Nurse Lane had reminded Jayla for the umpteenth time that she was only doing a half shift today. She appreciated the older woman looking out for her, really she did, but it was starting to get annoying. Everyone was on half shifts for a few days. After the last mission, when most of them had worked with little sleep, Jayla felt it was important that they get some rest. And Nurse Lane thought it was important to make sure that Jayla got some rest.

She grinned as she set one PADD aside and picked up another. She was expecting a new medical technician soon, who was ALSO on half shifts even though she hadn't been through the last mission. She had no idea what was going to happen this next mission. It was very possible that they'd get little sleep again and Jayla felt it was better that even the new staff rest up.

Deborah paused just inside the Sickbay doors. She was not overwhelmed by the grandeur of a high-tech medical facility like some stary-eyed cadet; instead she had been seconded to xenobiology and hadn't visited Sickbay recently and needed her bearings. But from today, she was assigned back and had been told to check in with the Chief Medical Officer.

"Thanks. It's nice to be back. Is Commander Kij in? Okay."

She walked the few steps to the private office of the Chiefs Office. Like medical offices across the galaxy, there were PADDs everywhere; medical models of organs of various species, some supplies, and a sprinkling of personal items of its current occupant. Deborrah knocked on the upright doorframe to announce her presence.

"Doctor?"

Jayla looked up from the PADD she'd been staring at without actually seeing it to see a brunette with blue eyes standing in the door to her office. She gave her one of her patented grins and stood to greet her. "You must be Lieutenant Ballar," she said cheerfully. "Come in, have a seat," she added, motioning to the two chairs opposite her desk.

Deborah dutifully complied and quickly seated herself.

"Relax," said Jayla with a friendly smile. "I'm not going to bite. Or yell at you. You'll find that I'm pretty easy going. As long as you work hard, we'll get along just fine."

Deborah allowed herself to sink back slightly deeper into her seat.

"Sounds fair," she answered smiling.

"I see you're coming from a Starbase," commented Jayla, giving the technician another grin. "I've never been stationed on one. Did you enjoy it?"

"I suppose so. It was vibrant with lots of species passing through, spacious too. But a Starbase can't really go anywhere, which was more of the problem."

"Yeah," said Jayla. "You have to just sort of sit there and wait for everything to come to you. But, I imagine there would be an awful lot of things coming to you, so at least that's a plus."

"That's true, it was pretty interesting at times. I just don't do sitting still very well. It's a learned skill, but if we're dealing with the Consortium, I'm told we're not going to be doing much sitting still."

"Probably not," Jayla agreed. "If we can just get out of this nebula alive, we might have a fighting chance."

"So, what are your priorities?" Deborah asked. She needed more details to work effectively. She usually succeeded when she made her superior's concerns her own.

"For now, just trying to stay positive," Jayla said. "Also, I'd like to run triage drills. While I'm hoping for the best, we should prepare for the worst."

Deborah nodded. Triage drills were an essential part of readiness training. A fake emergency provided a realistic framework to test components of the medical department. Could the facilities handle the patient load? Could the staff handle the pressure and still deliver patient care? How would casualty assessment workflows cope in the unforgiving environment of a real emergency? All these items and more could be examined critically in the relative cool of a drill.

Occasionally, drills morphed into fully blown exercises with
Engineering blocking off sections of the ship or base to simulate damage or obstruction. Medical staff often worked with the amateur dramatic group to replicate horrific looking injuries . Some volunteers hammed up the acting to holo-novel levels as casualties or distraught relatives. Deborah recalled a particularly memorable portrayal at 211 when at the height of the crisis a nurse suddenly and stubbornly refused to treat a patient on racial grounds, hurling abuse at the patient, throwing everyone present for a complete loop. At exercise's end, it transpired, the caring and dedicated nurse had been briefed secretly on her staring role to add depth and unpredictability to the event.

"I'll speak with staffing and Operations to coordinate."

"You are going to indispensable, I see," Jayla replied with a crooked sort of grin. "For today, though, just familiarize yourself with the labs as well as main sickbay. It's small, but has just about everything you could imagine. It's got a bit of a strange set up because of the size, so it's a good idea to just have a look around and figure out where everything is."

"I'll do that." Deborah replied.

"Well, that's all I have for now," Jayla said. "So unless you have any questions, I'll let you get to it."

"Nope." Deborah responded quickly and simply.

"Okay, then, I'll let you get to it," said Jayla. "Welcome to the crew."

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