New Introductions - The Medical Department

Posted on Saturday May 6th, 2023 @ 10:37pm by Lieutenant Commander Ysabeau Saint-Pol & Captain Franklin Johnson

1,892 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Shore Leave
Location: USS Poseidon; Bridge, Captains Ready Room
Timeline: During the events of "Shore Leave"
Tags: Shore Leave, 2395, Introduction

[ON]

It was an off day for the Captain. The events on Risa had played heavily for him so he decided to come up to the Poseidon to do a few personal logs for records. Along the way he was notified of a new crewmember, someone who was to replace T'Vek as the Chief Medical Officer. T'Vek had taken leave of his duties due to situations back home and personal life. So it made sense Starfleet would send a replacement.

Her name was Ysabeau Jeanne Saint-Pol, Lieutenant Commander, and the future Chief Medical Officer of the Poseidon following her introduction. She had extensive prior histories on notable ships, including the Medical Ship the USS Archimedes. Her stations afterward were also very notable. Her arrival here was extremely fortuitous and lucky for the Poseidon.

When the door chimed, he stood, greeting his future CMO at the door.

"Welcome, Mrs. Saint-Pol!" Greeted the Captain jovially. "May I call you that, or would you prefer Ysabeau? I'm sorry, I'm not familiar with the particulars of french culture to which I do sincerely apologize."

Ysa smiled broadly, “Captain Johnson it’s good to meet you finally. Please call me Ysa, Ysabeau or just plain Doctor, whatever you wish, as for French culture I am quite happy to be away from such things so no need for apologies.”

"Of course!" the Captain replied, moving aside so the CMO could enter. "How are things? Was your travel here pleasant? We've been eagerly anticipating a revival of our medical department, especially with the expected influx of cadets. How are you with training cadets?"

Ysa smiled at the barrage of questions, she found the Captain affable and unexpectedly handsome and was happy to be there. "My travel was not good Sir but now I am here it has not bothered me. I must say how glad I am that you need a new CMO. As far as I can see sickbay is running well, however there is always room for improvement and I believe I will be able to do so. Trauma is one area that can be improved, too few staff members are trained in triage and trauma. I would also like, at some stage to begin to train everyone in basic trauma care so if medical can not get there then the injured have at least a chance. Cadets..” she thought about her answer. “I have no experience of training cadets but training is just that, training but it has to be modified for the set of people being trained. I am looking forward to jumping in and I hope you will be pleased by the results.” Ysa stood, quietly waiting to his response.

Franklin nodded, satisfied with the quick answers. He hadn't intentionally meant to barrage her like that but her quick and professional responses impressed him.

"Fantastic," the Captain replied, motioning for the guest seating. He sat on one seat, signaling with a hand motion for Ysa to sit on the opposite. "I'll keep this brief then. We're still under shore leave at the moment so you'll have a few days to a week tops to get sorted. I expect great things from you. Training cadets is very simple, it's just that instead of being strict, you have to lessen your approach and allow for misunderstandings and mistakes. Of course, in stricter roles, you need to hit home the emphasis of ensuring stability and accuracy. However, overall, you'll be helping graduated cadets and cadets still in the academy progress forward by leaps and bounds."

Ysa sat down as indicated her face animated as the Captain talked about training. “There is much to be done in sickbay and beyond Captain. Much will change but first I need to gain the trust of my staff and also May I say the senior members on board. If I can do that change becomes easier as it spreads out. May I ask it is medical training you wish for the Cadets? If that is so I can have a report on how I intend to do that will be on your desk in twenty four hours."

"As far as I'm aware, the cadets will come on board with a rudimentary understanding of what they're intended to do," explained Franklin. "Your job is to prepare them for life on board a ship, so that when they return to the Academy for graduation, they'll be fully prepared to master their courses. This ship operates as an extension of the Academy so everything they do here, even the reports you file about them, get sent back to the Academy for credit or negative credit.

I'm not expecting perfection here. Just do your job as you know how to do it and I believe the rest will come naturally. It's been a trail and error process for us and we're not expected to get this right out the door. With your help though, and the help of all the experienced officers on board, it'll make the process so much easier."

Ysa thought for a moment, she had not expected that her position would involve that kind of training, but, she was nothing if not expectant of new things. Her life had, so far been full of unexpected changes but, she had found there were things about change that can turn into constant problems if not handled right.

“I don’t care for failure Captain," Ysa began to reply, "but do understand that failure can occur if things are not done right. As Eleanor Roosevelt the wife of one of the Presidents of the old United States said ‘If life were predictable it would cease to be life, and be without flavor.’" She took a deep breath. “One of the things I did want to discuss with you and I feel very strongly about it is general crew trauma training. Medical staff cannot be everywhere, accidents happen on board ship as well as planetside. Although we can get to the place of trauma fairly quickly it has been shown that increased crew training can help increase recovery and can save lives. Whilst I was on the Archimedes I was able to take the lead in doing this. My aim is for each away team to carry a special kit which they are trained to use in the saving of life.”

Franklin nodded, considering the idea. "I like the idea. Having most of the medical crew - heck, even the crew - have trauma training would be great. I can consider activation of a ship-wide mandatory course that would give basic education. But to do that, I need something from you to help me. I need a plan, a course, and something straight-forward so we can hammer it in quickly. Kits shouldn't be an issue. We could possibly make them standard-issue on this ship for all away missions, both for leave and on duty. That way if something happens, our crew are first to respond and stabilize the victim. That said, I know the Academy gives basic medical. And to clarify, you're asking for a more advanced course than this, right?"

Ysa stood and walked to the window looking out her hands behind her back then turned. “I am looking at trauma teams that can have access to the patients basic medical details, allergies and the such so they they can give basic drugs especially analgesia, they can suture small wounds….the cast goes on endlessly but in reality there are just a few. The members of Starfleet put themselves in the way of danger. We can at least let them trust us with the best of care. It is something I feel very strongly about. Ask the Captain of the Archimedes Sir, when we played chess we thrashed everything out together and came up with the best plan we could, and…it works. Do you play chess Captain?” Ysa smiled.


Franklin watched her move and remained sitting, relaxing in his chair as he listened. He gave a nod to her explanation.

"Sometimes," he replied. "Though not often. You seem very tactical about this."

She smiled, “when you are thinking of something as large and as involved as this one has to be tactical about it. A lot of simple medicine is tactical and can be taught as such. I must admit I am looking forward to cadets, I shall be a sort of ‘den mother’” she laughed. “Not at all like my own mother” she said. If this is to succeed Captain I have to have my staff onboard. There are a couple that will need shall I say, redirection. There will be no more sitting in corners waiting for their shifts to end. I hope I will have your backing Captain?”

Excited, Franklin nodded. "Absolutely! I'm eager for my department heads to take a more direct and earnest approach. You have my full backing to experiment as much as possible to get you department in order."

"Sir will you be having department heads meetings. I find them very useful in disseminating knowledge and receiving ideas?”

Franklin thought a moment.

"I tried that once. It didn't really work out to well. This was before Starfleet saw us as an Academic opportunity, mind you. Believe it or not my ship was a favorite for misfits. We saw so many changing department heads one year, in fact, I honestly believed we were going to be decommissioned. Then the Commodore pulled strings at the Academy and here we are, going full on into our new role. So to answer your question, probably not unless necessary. This is a training ship. Unless I need to tell you how to directly do your jobs, unless there's an actual Starfleet assignment, don't expect me to interfere."

Shon waited to try to make her reply measures and respectful, she took a deep breath. “Captain that is disappointing,” she smiled “not the part about non interference that is good although of course you must want to be updated about what is going on. Before I make my plans I just need a little more information about what you expect me to do with the cadets?”

"Treat them as regular enlisted," Franklin clarified as he gave a smile. "They're cadets, yes, and as I stated they deserve some extra attention. But the more you expect of them and treat them as enlisted, the more refined they can be. Our job as a training ship is to ensure they understand their roles on other vessels in the fleet. We are to provide that safe avenue for them to explore, and sometimes even experience the harsher realities of space travel. Our goal is their safety, security, and education. After that, our goals with Starfleet remain traditionally the same."

A moments silence, then he added, "Anything else? If not, I think you got this from here."

“I think so too Sir and, if I get into trouble there is always someone to help I just have to get to know everyone. Thank you.” Ysa moved to go knowing the the Captain had finished with their conversation.

"Very good," replied the Captain. "Alright, I'll let you get to work. Any problems, be sure to let me know."

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Captain Franklin Johnson
Commanding Officer
USS Poseidon

&

Lieutenant Commander Dr Ysabeau Jeanne Saint - Pol
Chief Medical Officer
USS Poseidon

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