A Bitter Pill to Swallow: Part 2

Posted on 07 Oct 2014 @ 1:43am by Commander Allyndra illm Warraquim & Lieutenant Olsam Mott & Lieutenant Tuula Voutilainen M.D. & Chief Warrant Officer 3 Alexion Wylde & Jonah Chaparral M.D. & Crewman Corealina Vipsania & Commander Scarlet Blake

2,357 words; about a 12 minute read

Mission: Episode 06 - Legend of Souls
Location: USS Galileo: Deck 2 - First Officer's Quarters
Timeline: MD 10 - 1415

Previously...

"And that's what really concerns me...." Blake looked around the group, meeting the eyes of each staff member. "If you couldn't hold it together and keep to your triage system and cope in that little bit of heat, what the hell will happen if we're ever thrown truly into the fire? It's not good enough, and I expect to see improvements. I pulled you in as a team because that's what you are...you succeed or fail together, and the only way you're going to do better is to work together and be honest with each other about the strengths and weaknesses in the team so you can find solutions for the weaknesses and to improve your working methods."

And now, the continuation...


Naois raised his hand, indicating he had something to say. "In Doctor Voutilainen's defense ma'am, I am certain that if she was performing old fashioned surgery, she had reason to do so. I have found that, during the crisis, critical equipment including medical tricorders were malfunctioning. If there was no supervision, then either those that should have supervised her reasoned she was equipped
enough to handle it, or were otherwise occupied and Doctor Voutilainen acted on good faith and instinct."

He wasn't sure whether his statement would help any, especially since he'd not been there. But he had experienced malfunctioning equipment first hand.

Blake shook her head lightly as she arched an eyebrow. "Dr Mercy, you weren't in Sickbay. I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt and assume that you weren't listening to me properly there for a moment rather than questioning me, as I've already told you that all that happened in that scenario was unacceptable. End of story."

Nurse Vipsania felt relief that she had not been there long enough to participate in what this had been. To her, it sounded hellish...something that she, who had just graduated, had practiced in countless scenarios during her training. "We will improve up to Starfleet's standard," she said, firmly. They were all in this together. All of them, new or old. And she would make sure, as she had just graduated, that they were up to the newest of standards.

"I have a question," said Tuula. She was shaking with anger, and deeply hurt at being singled out for so much vicious criticism in front of her colleagues. "You're not a doctor, and unless I'm mistaken, you have no medical training. And you weren't there. You didn't see the patient's condition, and even if you did, you don't have the medical knowledge to determine what sort of treatment is necessary. So what exactly gives you the qualifications to question my medical judgement?"

"Lt Voutilainen," Blake replied slowly, curtly, her voice lifting in volume just a notch as a note of warning. "You have caused quite enough trouble by speaking out of turn with superior officers. I suggest you close your mouth and open your ears from here on out unless you want to see nothing but the inside of your quarters for the rest of the trip," she replied coldly. "Take a long think about what you just said....what gives you the authority to question the First Officer of this ship? Hm? You know absolutely nothing of what I have done, what my qualifications are and what my experience is, and frankly, it is none of your business. You have been told by a member of the command staff that what happened was unacceptable. Suck it up, and if you can't comment without respect for the command staff, then as our mamas used to say, don't say nothin' at all."

Olsam cut his eyes to look at Dr. Allyndra, weighed the risks associated with speaking out of turn, and finally decided that if he didn't say what he had to say then he would probably just explode. His voice was almost disturbingly even tempered, containing neither the fire of his outbursts during their initial complaint nor the joviality of his bedside manner.

"Dr. Allyndra and I have already discussed - and will continue to discuss - our staff's medical performance during the triage incident. But to suggest that our triage system 'broke down' may be reaching, Commander Blake. Our responsibility during triage, particularly in the face of a mass casualty event, is to identify and treat the most critical cases with the limited staff we have available. As you'll no doubt note from your review of the incident, the only critically injured patients were Ensign Voutilainen, Lieutenant Commander Mialin and Petty Officer Hex. Those cases are our priority; the six crewmen sent to the holodeck were the only minor cases we had the luxury of passing on for treatment before the needs of the critical patients demanded the full attention of our medical staff, and we were distracted by the very volatile situation of a flag officer brandishing a live weapon.

"A 'cluttered up' and 'chaotic' Sickbay is the nature of the medical facilities on this ship when faced with a mass casualty event. We are not a hospital ship. There are three biobeds. Three. I think everyone here, not only as members of this crew but as medical professionals, find it derogatory and insulting that you should suggest we neglected the health and welfare of our fellow crewmen when, on the contrary, we were following triage procedures. A broken bone, I'm sorry to say, does not and will not ever while I am on duty, warrant the attention of a physician while three other patients are in critical condition. Starfleet officers, as you so eloquently put it, can simply suck it up and wait until the personnel are free and available to treat their minor injuries."

Olsam's eyes started to narrow slightly at Blake, like he was losing his tenuous grasp on calm.

"As for Dr. Voutilainen, she is a qualified medical doctor licensed by Starfleet Medical to practice medicine in the Federation. Is her specialized training complete? No, it is not. Did she make mistakes during the treatment of Petty Officer Hex? Yes, she did. But those mistakes are under review within our department, and they will be covered in her residency training. And as far as I'm concerned, her treatment of the individual in question - while extreme - was an attempt in good faith to save a life. Your insistence and the irrational insistence of the Commodore for privacy in the face of a medical emergency is ludicrous. We are trained to treat the patient first and foremost. This is a military vessel, and Petty Officer Hex is a member of Starfleet. She was not a private citizen of the Federation at the Daystrom Institute's clinic for elective surgery, where doctors have the luxury of attending to such minor matters."

The Bolian's eyes had narrowed into slits among his fat blue face, hands clenching the arms of his chair and all thoughts of a post-lunch nap gone out the airlock.

"Do you have some valid points about the handling of the triage situation? Absolutely. We were uncoordinated, overwhelmed and, at times, relying on medical practices that should be corrected. But if you think dragging us in here as a staff and collectively and individually berating us is an effective means of addressing deficiencies in the performance of our duties then you're as incompetent a command officer as you claim we are medical professionals." Olsam stood up abruptly and leaned forward toward Blake, a big blue blob teetering ever closer to her desk. "This is not the Cardassian Union. We shouldn't be paraded in here, collectively, some of us as innocent of wrong-doing as you can be, and brought low in front of our colleagues. Corrective action, disciplinary action related to our individual occupational specialization, should come from Dr. Allyndra as our Chief Medical Officer and, frankly, the only person on this ship that I intend to take medical advice from. I'm sure as hell not going to have my medical competence or that of my colleagues impugned by a... A... Marine. And frankly, you've just been... Well... Rude. Quite rude, indeed."

The Bolian physician, still standing, crossed his arms and huffed. Now that he'd vented all his frustration, he seemed to deflate a little. He realized he was standing while everyone else was sitting. How'd that happened? He felt like it left him open, exposed, standing out alone and on his own. And probably about to be hauled off to the brig.

Scarlet held his eyes, her own cold with sheer fury at his outburst. "Sit. Down. Now," she virtually whispered, the quietness of her voice the giveaway that she was close to the edge of taking matters further with the outburst. "Anymore out of you, and I will have you removed. Everything you just said and the sheer disrespect you just showed me has done nothing but confirm to me everything I just said and everything I was thinking. It does nothing but make it worse. I suggest you remain quiet and think about everything I said instead of just lashing out at it. And I mean really think about it. I am telling you what happened was unacceptable. Take responsibility, take in what I said, deal with it, move on, and then behave and react like a Starfleet officer.

"Everyone made mistakes, it's time for everyone to recognise what they were and improve themselves instead of getting defensive and letting bruised egos lash out. Frankly, the medical officers involved are lucky that they're not getting official reprimands over what happened. Instead, I preferred to keep this between all of us to improve the situation. However, if you're really having a hard time dealing with what I'm saying, I can write it all down for you instead, on a nice shiny PADD and make it official. I don't think any of us want that though, so I suggest you also watch your tone, watch what comes out of your mouth, or I will have you removed from the process of putting this right with an action plan by taking you off duty; I need stable officers in Sickbay, not volatile individuals..." Blake pointed to his chair. "Sit down, now, quietly."

"Disrespect begets disrespect," Olsam said, though he wasn't entirely sure who that Bolian sounding man was that was speaking. Sounded a bit like him, but surely he shut up and sat down when he was told to shut up and sit down, right? He felt a little light-headed, like he was having an actual out of body experience where his mouth kept moving despite what his brain was saying, and he stood nearby watching in silent horror.

"I'm not going to just sit down and keep my mouth shut when I think you're wrong. I'm not going to just be silenced because you happen to dislike what I have to say. I've thought about what you said all I need to think about it and as I already acknowledged you have some very valid points but the manner you've chosen to deliver them is like an overbearing mother speaking down to her very disobedient, naughty and irrational children. It's ridiculous! And some of the criticisms are being doled out like you're the Starfleet Medical Board of Inquir-"

"Lieutenant Mott, you're relieved of duty," Blake said quietly, shaking her head, genuinely disappointed in him and at his choice not to be a part of the action plan moving forward. "You're damned right, I'm not your mother, but I am your First Officer. Report to your quarters and stay there until further notice," she met his eyes, hoping that he'd at least go with some dignity by himself rather than her having to call for him to be taken there.

Olsam sputtered. Relieved of duty? He looked down at Allyndra seated to one side of him, Tuula on the other. He could feel the eyes of the rest of the medical staff on him, likely sharing a look of disbelief. He supposed there was really nothing left to say. He either looked brave, going to bat for their team where Allyndra had her hands somewhat tied by rank and position. Or... Or, he looked like a blustering, pompous fool who couldn't keep his fat Bolian mouth shut.

In the end, there was little he could do. With his head held high, chest puffed out, arms stiffly at his sides, he whirled around in an about face and tried to make his way out of the office with some dignity. That was complicated, of course, not only by his size but the cramped office being jammed full of the entire medical staff. He bumped several shoulders and chairs on his way out, but finally made it into the corridor. He supposed he could catch that post-lunch nap after all.

Lina let out a breath of relief at Mott leaving without causing anymore of a scene, her hands folded in her lap. The whole...exchange had made her feel ashamed. She looked around, at these people...her colleagues. Who did not listen to a First Officer. As someone who had just stepped out from the Academy, that was frightening. She could only hope that this had been a one-off and that her superiors in Medical were sensible people most of the time. She was very aware of the low rank she wore, as well as the new status she held.


TBC:

---

CMDR Scarlet Blake
First Officer
USS Galileo

Nurse Corealina Vipsania
Medical
USS Galileo
[PNPC Rice]

Jonah Chaparral
Civilian Epidemiologist
USS Galileo
[PNPC Nicholas]

Lt Cmdr Allyndra illm Warraquim
Chief Medical Officer
USS Gallileo

Lt. j.g. Naois Mercy
Medical Officer
USS Galileo
[PNPC T'Vanna]

Lieutenant Olsam Mott, M.D.
Assistant Chief Medical Officer
USS Gallileo

SWO Alexion Wylde
Doctor
USS Galileo
[PNPC Blake]

Lieutenant (J.G.) Tuula Voutilainen, M.D.
Medical Officer
USS Galileo

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