Learning Curve

Posted on Tue Apr 5th, 2011 @ 9:29am by Lieutenant Kiyraesyn Valdor & Lieutenant JG Caesonia Kirsgaard & Ensign Lynnea Wildman & Lieutenant Serran & Petty Officer 2nd Class Eldon Solus & Petty Officer 3rd Class Loren Sora

Mission: Renegades
Location: Sick Bay
Timeline: shortly after "Staff Meeting"

Kiyraesyn entered the Main Sick Bay, refreshed and ready to begin the regimen of Medical training as prescribed by her Commanding Officer, Captain Nathan Cowell. It had been a productive, albeit rather ordinary meeting, as well as a rather ordinary assignment. That's not to say she found the prospect of training up four new surgeons ordinary. On the contrary, she looked forward to being placed in a mentoring role. In fact, she herself had begun to formulate a curriculum to that end, most especially in light of their recent mission and its rather unfortunate events.

And what a release of stress their shore leave on Pacifica had been for her and Eridani, Kiyraesyn reflected in her own mind before settling down and returning to the tasks which now lay before her.

She crossed the bay to a replicator and ordered a small coffee, black with a hint of sugar; then, she tapped her commbadge and spoke firmly.

"All Medical Personnel, please report to Main Sick Bay." She sipped at her coffee and awaited the arrival of her staff. In the meantime, she took the liberty of downloading the curriculum she had formed onto several PADDS to give each member of the team. It was to her satisfaction that they would have free use of the holodecks as well in order to put these protocols into practical application. She planned to have her medical officers work with the others who had little, if any, surgical expertise. After all, most of them possessed extremely pointed specialties in the field of Medicine. The Captain was wise to have her train them up on this knowledge so that they would have a more versatile skill set.

Loren entered Sick Bay, a yawn escaping her mouth as she covered it with her hand. She was already on her way when the Chief Medical Officer had requested her staff to assemble for her normal duty shift. Lately she had been pulling a lot night shifts, mostly in the medical labs. Having just finished her shift a mere eight hours ago, she was still somewhat exhausted but prepared to work nonetheless.

"Afternoon Ma'am.." Loren said with a curt node to her superior. She hadn't had the opportunity to work with her much, seeing as she had spent most of her time planetside during the Arizona's last mission. Still, from what she had heard from the rest of the staff and the her fellow crew mates, she was fortunate to have such a gifted physician to work with.

Eldon walked in, "Good morning." He greeted each staff member with a handshake... followed by a quick scan with a tricorder wand.

Caesonia Kirsgaard entered, an expression of earnest interest on her visage, and joined the rest of the staff. Her blue eyes glistened under the lights of the bay. Her hair was perched tight and high on the back of her head, regulation and perfect. Stunning, in fact, noted the Chief Medical Officer to herself and no one else. Caesonia spoke up.

"What's the word, Chief ?" She enquired in a light tone, her soft voice laced with an even lighter accent, revealing her Swedish ancestry.

"As soon as we've got everyone, I'll explain." Kiyraesyn replied. "How was your leave, Caesonia ?"

"Oh, not the most exciting-not for me. I've been to Pacifica several times, so I just stayed on the ship and rested up. That's the ideal holiday to me."

"I see." Valdor commented, smiling at the officer's honesty. "I have not been back in a very, very long time, and Eridani has never been there. I thought it would be a good idea to introduce her to its culture and more especially its scintillating oceans."

"And how did she find it ?"

"She enjoyed it as I expected. My instincts, in this regard, are never wrong."

They shared a laugh together before the short, redheaded figure of Nurse Wildman came careening into Main Sick Bay, with all the airs of urgency and tardiness painted upon her small but attractive face. It seemed that, in her haste, she had dropped something before crossing over the threshold. Caesonia pointed this out to her.

"I think you left something in the corridor." She said, half-teasingly.

Wildman spun about and ducked out to retrieve the item, which was a PADD filled with notes she had been taking since the start of her tour aboard Arizona.

"I'm sorry for my lateness, Lieutenant Valdor, I can assure you, it will never happen again. I just-"

"Ensign, relax. This isn't a formal meeting."

"It isn't ?"

"Well, no. Not quite."

"I don't understand." Wildman's brow furrowed wildly.

"Now that everyone is present, I shall explain. Take a seat, please."

Wildman acquiesced, joining her staffmates by sitting on a stool located just to the right of Kirsgaard, and left of Serran.

"I have been tasked with the mission of training those of you who lack surgical expertise. More specifically, the Captain has ordered me to make sure we have at least four field surgeons ready and prepared in case anything like what happened to us during our last mission should happen again. As he put it, better to be safe than sorry. In any case, I have decided to train all of you. I'm aware that there are one or two of you who already possess extensive knowledge in this area; however, it is always wise to maintain and refresh your skills. Also, some of the protocols you may have been trained and certified on may have changed, which means that whatever certifications you think you have are no longer valid. Are there any questions so far ?"

Eldon smiled and raised his hand, "Am happy to volunteer. Like medical school, operate on each other. Good learning experience."

"I'm glad you feel that way, Mr. Solus, because you're going to be spending your entire shifts for the rest of this week learning this material. Over on my desk in my office, you will find a stack of PADDs-one for each of you-one stack, that is. Please get started on the reading immediately and report back to Sick Bay tomorrow morning at 0700 hours. I will quiz you on what you have read so far at that time, and then I will dismiss you to continue your absorption of the information. Consider this your one and only assignment for now, and disregard all changes to the duty roster which may come from the XO during the week." She smiled once again as she gestured to her office. Each stack contained more than twenty PADDs, which seemed like nothing to her, but she realised it must be overwhelming to the others. "I know that this may seem impossible to accomplish. I suggest that you group up and work together to study. Unfortunately, I cannot begin simulations until I am certain that you grasp the basic protocols as set forth in Starfleet's regulations. If there are any medical emergencies, myself and Lieutenant Serran will handle them--naturally, you all will be called upon in the event of a major catastrophe. Understood ?"

Wildman's eyes widened with the shock of the task. Regardless, she nodded and approached her stack accordingly, doing her best not to drop a single PADD for fear that the whole pile might explode, as if it were an armed torpedo or some other incendiary mechanism.

The CMO patted Lynnea on the shoulder gently, smiling.

"Don't stress too badly, Lynn. It's not as much as you think, once you begin to apply it. I'm not expecting perfection here, just a mastery of basic techniques."

"Twenty PADDs for just the basics, hmm ?" Caesonia chimed in sarcastically; then she laughed it off, confident that she could meet Valdor's goal. Competitive in spirit, Kirsgaard never could turn down a good challenge.

Eldon gave a nod, "Am looking forward to it. Good to start strong. Question. Have found small unused spaces behind bulkheads across the ship. Would like to use for personal projects. Out of the way from our labs. Is this allowed?"

"That would depend, of course, on the type of projects." Valdor replied. "What do you have in mind ?"

"Small aquariums to grow algae, terrariums for botanical samples. Vacuum capsules unnecessary. Can grow organic asteroid crystals on the outer hull."

"Good, I like initiative, Petty Officer. I'll definitely make sure to allot you some time for this project, but for now, this training takes precedence. Once I feel you are adequate in the skills the Captain has mandated you to acquire, I will release you to get started on that. Fair enough ? If there aren't any other questions, comments or concerns, then everyone except for Nurse Wildman is dismissed. Report back here tomorrow morning, same time. Thank you." Kiyraesyn smiled warmly. She notised Lynnea nervously flipping through the PADDs. "Don't worry, Lynn, I'll work with you on the material. I need you to stay here as it is in case we have any emergencies between now and the next duty shift."

"Okay." Wildman acquiesced.

Kirsgaard threw Wildman a comforting, playful wink before leaving Sick Bay.

Kiyraesyn and her Head Nurse set themselves about the task of learning up the seemingly endless stack of surgical protocals which lay before them.