Endless Meetings

Posted on Mon Feb 26th, 2018 @ 7:06pm by Shay Lockley & Lieutenant Zev Darach

Mission: Weathering the Storm
Location: Conference Room - Hospital 332

Shay wasn't one for meetings, but like many other doctors, accepted it as part of the job. His days as a resident/registrar were largely focused on clinical medicine, with hardly any time devoted to administrative tasks. Being a staff specialist now meant having one day per week of his roster set aside for office work, which comprised of audits, policies and procedures, quality assurance and accountability, and other rather mundane yet crucial responsibilities.

Hospital 332, as one of two of the station's largest medical facilities, shared a close relationship with the local Starfleet infirmary, and as such a great deal of collaboration and teamwork exists at multiple levels, but none more evident than emergency services management. Most importantly was the cooperation between Fleet and civilian staff in developing shared strategic protocols in the event of a major incident, such as a mass casualty event or other disastrous occurrence. For that, not only staff from both hospitals meet regularly to review such policies, but advice also sought from Starfleet officers skilled in operations management.

Shay sat quietly on his seat, staring ahead while deep in thought. He was the first to arrive at the meeting, and with little more to do than twiddle his thumbs, looked up with attention as the door opened. In walked a man in a Starfleet uniform - gold-collared, with two pips to signify his grade as lieutenant. Surprisingly young in appearance, although Shay knew the same could be said of him at the current stage of his career.

"Morning," he gave the newcomer a quick smile and a nod.

"Doctor Lockley?" Zev asked, extending his hand.

Shay hadn't expected his name to be known, but then perhaps it had been on the meeting note circulated to all expected attendees, the one he hadn't bothered to read. He stood up and accepted the handshake, which was firm and confident. "Yes, that's me. And please, call me Shay. And you're...?"

"Lt. Darach," Zev said, taking a seat. "I'm the new Chief of Strategic Operations."

"Good to meet you," the doctor sat down as well. He fiddled with his pen for a short while, twirling it over the pad he held. "Are you new to the station as well?"

Zev nodded. "I'm a recent transfer, yes. What about you?"

"Only been here a few days. Took up a contract here to work at both the Fleet and civilian hospitals, on a part-time basis for each. Before that I was back on Earth. Where did you transfer from?" For a reason he couldn't quite put a finger on, he was curious about the man sitting across the table from him.

"The Hamill," Zev replied. "Earth, huh? I found the history of that planet very... interesting. I'm honestly surprised that your species didn't wipe themselves out more than once. Still, I enjoyed my time there, even if I had to adjust to the cultural differences when I attended the Academy."

"Ah, yes," Shay nodded. "My people... are an interesting kind. A history with a lot to be ashamed of, but also a lot to be proud of. Hopefully you've found more of the latter. And you're from...?" he asked, this time curious as to what species Zev was, but not wanting to ask directly to avoid offense.

"I'm Unkari," Zev replied. "Only the second one to ever serve in Starfleet. We're from the Gamma Quadrant."

Second to ever serve in Starfleet, Shay thought. He'd never heard of the Unkari before, and wondered how ignorant he may be with regards to all that may be out there in the galaxy. "I see."

And just as the doctor was about to continue their casual conversation, the door opened once again. Three people stepped in - two men in business jackets, and an older lady dressed like an executive. Introductions were quick. All three of them were administrative representatives for the Federal Health Service, the sole provider of public health services run by the UFP Government.

Their first topic of discussion concerned the upcoming review process of their major incident protocol, of which Shay had a few words on. "At the moment, we've got, to an extent, fractured communication between the Fleet and civilian hospitals. We follow the same major incident plan, but after spending a few hours last night going through it, I feel there needs to be further integration at all levels - strategic, tactical, operational. This is where our friend from station strat-ops can perhaps provide some advice, although I can't be sure if running the protocol in military fashion would be the best idea. I'm happy to be proven wrong, though."

Zev leaned forward and typed a few commands into his PADD. "I tend to agree with most of what the doctor has said, however I do believe that we need a clear-cut and easily understandable incident command system in place should we require the assistance of civilian facilities in a large scale disaster. The ICS system should be easy enough for both civilians and Starfleet personnel to understand and adaptable enough to handle most situations."

"What about the idea of running a joint service that is comprised of both civilian and military staff?" one of the execs suggested. "Where everyone essentially 'abandons' the premise of their usual role - as either Starfleet or non-Starfleet - and fosters an environment of teamwork." She looked over at Zev, "Do you have an ICS already set in place or currently being used by your strat-ops service?"

"I appreciate the suggestion, but the station's infrastructure is already maxed at the moment. Developing a task force that could handle a situation such as we are talking about here would be a better option," Zev said, looking around the conference room. "Getting the civilian side up to speed on an ICS system shouldn't be all that hard."

"Fair enough," Shay nodded.

The exec pressed on. "Roughly how long should we expect the transition to take place?" she asked the Starfleet officer. "Including training time, computer implementation, test runs..."

"A month," Zev said, shrugging his shoulders. "We'll have to get final approval from station ops."

She took note by jotting it down on her pad.

The rest of the meeting was as dull as Shay had expected, and he personally wished not to be too involved in the department's administrative matters. He was a new staff member, and quite new to his role as a fully-qualified emergency physician, and so he had plenty of time in his more senior years to busy himself with such responsibilities. But now, all he wanted to do is practice the medicine he'd been clinically trained to do.

It was another 30 minutes of endless talk until the meeting was brought to a close, and everyone began standing up to shuffle their way out of the room. Shay and Zev were the last to leave.

"Wasn't that fun?" Shay asked the ops officer, sarcastically of course.

"Hazards of the job," Zev stated, with a shrug of his shoulders. "I've sat through worse briefings though."

"Settling in all right on the station?" the doctor asked to create conversation.

"It's a lot bigger than my previous assignment," Zev said. "But interesting nonetheless."

Shay nodded. "Yeah, pretty incredible place," he agreed. "All of this, just hanging in the middle of space." He allowed for a pause. "Anyway, it was good to meet you. Hopefully your ICS suggestion makes it through board approval, and we sort out the little inefficiencies. Thanks for coming to this meeting, as dry as it was."

"My pleasure doctor," Zev responded. He looked down at his chrono. "Speaking of meetings, I have another with the flight leader in about fifteen minutes. I look forward to working with you doctor."

"No worries, catch you around," Shay said, and the two departed in separate ways.

---

Lt Zev Darach
Chief Strategic Ops Officer
Starbase 332

&

Dr Shay Lockley
MBBS, FRCEM
Staff Specialist
Emergency Medicine
Starbase 332