Introductions and Bedside Manners

Posted on Saturday, 21 March 2020 - 12:09pm by Commander Soral & Lieutenant Ryan Rose MD

Mission: Operation: Overdrive
Location: XO's office and Sickbay, USS Fontana
Timeline: 2393

{ON}

Ryan was very glad his first posting as CMO was on a small ship. While he was used to larger environments, where his focus could remain more on surgery than general practitioner, he was looking forward to a more intimate environment. The first step in establishing that environment was learning the crew on a deeper level that a short synopsis on a PaDD with relevant medical information. He also wanted to get a feel for how the command team of the ship would function. A by the book team could make for a very different experience than a fly by the seat of your pants team. So Ryan made a trip to the XOs office, having had Samantha make him an appointment. He arrived on time and sounded the chime.

Soral had just finished reading the new crew evaluations. The ship was far from ready yet but he was able to get to his office and the crew that had arrived was given access to slowly start bringing things and working with the ops teams to get things arranged. He had underestimated the paperwork that came with the job. As the door chimed he looked up and then at the time. The fact that the CMO arrived on time was a good sign. He hadn't had time to get in-depth into the man's record but he would allow....what was it his former captain said, instinct to be his judge. "Enter when ready," he called out.

Ryan stepped right in, then paused inside the door. "Good morning, sir. Doctor Ryan Rose." He gave a nod, introducing himself. It looked like the man had been busy with a PaDD before Ryan had sounded the chime. It was comforting to see that he wasn't the only one that was apparently in the paperwork boat.

Soral inclined his head. "Good Morning. Please be seated." Soral stood and walked over to the replicator. "Would you like a drink?"

Ryan took the offered seat. "Water would be great, thank you." He accepted the offer more out of social nicety than thirst. "Thank you for making the time to see me. I know it must be busy."

"It is busy time," he said as he tapped a few commands and watched the water shimmer to existence. He picked up the glass and handed it to the young man. "However, as the XO, I will always make myself available to the crew. It is vital that we all know one another and work well together." He ordered a Vulcan Spice tea for himself and sat down back at his desk. His mind was already doing an assessment of the doctor as well as planning the layout of this office and planning the unpacking of his quarters. "Tell me of yourself Doctor Rose."

Ryan took a sip of his water, then nodded before speaking. "Well most of my experience is in surgery. I'm still a bit new to the management side of things. I'm certainly glad we aren't on a large cruiser. I think keeping one hundred or so individuals healthy will be quite busy enough." He smiled.

"Indeed. I believe CMO that I worked with previously would have called this a small town doctor ship." He waited for Rose to go on.

Ryan chuckled briefly. "I suppose that's a good way to look at it." He paused, gathering his thoughts about what else the XO might want to know. "At the moment there isn't much to report in regards to sickbay. We haven't received our full compliment of crew yet, or gotten full clearance from engineering."

"They will hopefully be finished soon. I will be monitoring the progress there. I would like you to go through sickbay and see what equipment you can think of that will be needed and perhaps give your input to the layout." He handed Rose a PaDD. "Sickbay is your domain and a second home from your quarters and it is vital that you feel secure and comfortable there."

Ryan took the PaDD. He had to suppress a smile at the very sincere tone of the XO, filled with conviction. The fact of the matter was that he already did feel secure and comfortable there, sometimes more so than his own quarters. "I haven't seen any issues with the equipment or layouts yet, but I will certainly let you know if I do."

"Excellent. May I ask a personal question?"

"Of course." Ryan immediately replied. He was surprised at the question, but also curious.

"What is it that led you into medicine?" Part of getting to know his staff was learning their motivations.

"Oh, well. That's hard to pin down. One of my oldest memories was of the neighbors daughter crying because her stuffed bear was ripped. I sewed it up, even though I didn't really know what I was doing. It did the trick though, she stopped crying. I don't think anything led me so much as it's just...me."

"Indeed." He raised his right eyebrow. "Fascinating." Equally as fascinating was the doctor being a man of few words. Short and to the point. Soral liked that. "The next step is to discuss how you and I will work together. I must admit to a certain flexibility. We can meet weekly, or every second week, or even monthly for status updates face to face, I will adapt to you preference of course. "I do ask for a weekly half page summary just basics, injuries, how many ill, anything that might be urgent or pertinent to the ship or supplies that are required. "I will of course commit to responding to every message sent and will maintain an open door policy that extends a full 24 hour cycle to any questions and concerns."

He tilted his head to he side. "Would your be agreeable to that?"

"Yes, of course. I think bi-weekly should be fine, unless anything unexpected comes up of course. I'll make sure you get that weekly summary as well." Ryan jotted a few notes down quickly on a PaDD. He was pleased to see that the XO wanted to be kept in the loop with regards to medical. Too often the department went unnoticed until something medically urgent popped up. "Anything else?" Ryan asked, still poised for more note taking.

"Do you have any questions for me?"

Ryan grinned. "When can I expect you in for your physical sir? I'm up and running enough for that, and it's always easier to cajole security in if the XO has set the example."

Soral shifted slightly. His face was impassive yet it was clear that the question was somewhat unexpected. It was a necessity. "Very well. I can come down now if you have the time."

"Certainly. You'll have to excuse a bit of a mess, but it would probably be best to take care of it before we get a rush of new crew members."

He still had a sudden urge to transport away but the doctor was right. Leading by example was vital. He stood. "Very well. I will accompany you now." He had some time before his fly over to ensure that the outside repairs are proceeding. "I must confess something to you doctor."

Ryan was out of his chair and at the door, ready to head back to sickbay. "What's that?" Ryan asked. He gave the man a once over, checking for any visual signs of injury.

"I am not the best patient. My doctor on the previous ship called me a bio bed flight risk," he said quite seriously.

"Well luckily it's a small ship. You can't run far." Ryan continued talking. "I was reading up on the ship class. I was impressed by how many areas could be used for emergency triage. With the extra EMH transmitters in crucial areas, it greatly expands Medical's ability to dynamically respond to a multitude of crisis." Ryan continued to talk as they walked into sickbay. He pulled up the XOs medical record, then after a quick glance, pulled out another PaDD. "Could you hold this for me." He more of less shoved the PaDD into the man's hand, not giving him much of a choice unless he wanted to drop the PaDD. He grabbed his medical tricorder and started scanning, never stopping his running commentary. "I've already made a few adjustments to the on hand medications, especially the opiodes and barbituates." Ryan showed the XO the new storage arrangement, all the time performing the basic scans for a required physical.

"Excellent. I am pleased to see that you are settling in. I can speak with the ops department and engineering to broaden the scope of emitters. I was actually going to speak with you about something." Soral seemed oblivious to the doctors actions. He held the PaDD he was given while mentally running through his daily to do list and looking around sickbay.

Ryan paused long enough to nod at the XO. "Certainly. What did you need to speak to me about?" He made a quick change to his tricorder without having to look at it, and started the last scan while he kept his attention on the XO.

"Have you considered a ... home service of sorts. Perhaps by using the EMH a little more." He cleared his throat, "Oh doctor...I should thank you."

"As long as it's something I don't need some of the bigger machines for, I'll always make house calls, or work calls as the need may be. " Ryan answered the posed question first, then paused. "What did you need to thank me for?" He asked curiously.

"Attempting to keep my mind occupied while you run your tests." Not much escaped Soral but the doctor had a way of putting people at ease and Soral knew that the Commander had made a great choice. So far the personnel she picked were turning out to be interesting and the right fit. Now only if could solve the issue of the chief.

"Oh." Ryan smiled and gave a tiny shrug. "You weren't suppose to notice that, but you're welcome, and also you're all done. If I have any questions or concerns after I have a chance to view the scans, I'll let you know."

He gave a nod. "As a former Sec/Tact officer I notice quite a lot. Welcome aboard doctor. Your service honours us." He inclined his head slightly.

Ryan gave a surprised blink. Not just at the formality of the statement, but the statement itself. "Umm thank you." He nodded in return.

{OFF}

Lieutenant Ryan Rose
Chief Medical Officer

&

Lieutenant Commander Soral
Executive Officer