MEDICAL OFFICER ADVANCED TRAINING

Who is this Course For:
The Chief Medical or Federation officer who desires to excel in his or her medical simming quality.

Overall objectives:

• To offer a challenge and improve the quality of your medical posts
  

• To familiarize you with Trek Medicine by primarily offering you the tools of the trade and the trek vocabulary.
  

• To effectively use the Federation Database to improve your posts in detail.  http://stfederation.org/lcars/index.html

As a Chief Medical Officer or Assistant, you will
1) Be responsible for the physical well-being of the ship's crew. A real life (R/L) interest in the medical field will help but you don't need to be a nurse or doctor to play one. Describe what you're doing; you'll get your
point across.

2) Organize laboratory, therapy and nursing personnel. You will gather medical data and conduct experiments. If there is a virus on the ship or a crew member has been taken over by another race, it will be up to you to find a cure and/or a way to neutralize it.

3) Preserve Standard Duties. The sickbay handles all manner of crises from a simple headache to a life threatening disease. A crew of 300 or more are bound to have minor medical problems requiring the attentions of you and your staff. Each ship has Non Playing Characters (NPCs). They will hand you instruments, help you to conduct experiments and a myriad of other duties as you assign. You've learned about NPCs at the academy.

4) Join away missions. On all away missions, always take the med kit, a small strap-on case designed to carry emergency medical supplies. These supply modules are stored in bulk aboard Federation starships (The Star Trek Encyclopedia).

A full standard kit includes the following and may be adapted as required:

With the following medication vials / purpose:

While on an away mission, watch for anything that might be dangerous - that is, watch for anything with teeth including plants. You will perform the duties assigned to you by the mission leader.

5) As chief medical officer, you have to capability to suspend any crew members (including senior staff) from duty if their physical status requires. Federation regulation states that the chief medical officer may
relieve an executive or commanding officer of duty if the executive/commanding officer is mentally or physically unfit. The physician would have to back up this claim with the results of a physical exam (The
Star Trek Encyclopedia). A ship's counsellor shares this capability, HOWEVER, if just cause is not found to be present, this is punishable by court martial.


Medical Department Organization
The Chief Medical Officer manages the Medical Department. He or she is primarily responsible for overseeing all care and procedures, and will accompany Away Teams to ensure their safety and to provide immediate
emergency medical care. The Assistant Medical Officer(s) provide additional care, as well as filling in for the Chief Medical Officer when he or she is unavailable.

The medical department is centralized in Sick Bay. The Sick Bay is made up of:

• A central care facility
  

• Intensive-care wards
  

• Surgery suites
  

• Rehabilitation department
  

• OB/GYN unit
  

• Nursery
  

• Null-grav therapy ward
  

• Morgue
  

• Biohazard isolation unit
  

• Dental care office
  

• Medical laboratories
  

• Chief medical officer's office
  

• Medical staff lounge
  

• Private rooms for seeing patients
  
  In a small ship, at least four medical personnel are on duty at all times.
  
  In emergency situations, shuttle bays, cargo bays, or even holodecks can be converted into working triage/trauma centers. These situations include (and are not limited to) mass casualty crises and epidemics. Guest quarters on the upper decks can easily be adapted to serve as patient overflow areas.
  
  Head Nurse, Staff Nurses and Medical Technicians lend support as needed and are generally NPCs, utilized by you during a simulation. Additional medical support is available via the Emergency Medical Hologram (EMH) Program. The EMH is a fully functional holographic physician that utilizes current Federation medical databases to render treatment.
  
  This list and count is not complete. This is an estimate only and can be changed as you need it. Remember that smaller ships have less medical personnel. There will be a database covering this. For approximately every 500 crew members there are 5 doctors, 12 nurses and assorted medical technicians.
  
  Pursuant to Starfleet General Policy and Starfleet Medical Emergency Operations, at least 40% of the officers and crew of the Sovereign (or any other ) class are cross-trained to serve as Emergency Medical Technicians, to serve as triage specialists, medics, and other emergency medical functions along with non-medical emergency operations in engineering or tactical departments. This set of policies was established due to the wide variety of emergencies, both medical and otherwise, that a Federation Starship could respond to on any given mission. - A Call To Duty
  
  
  Medical Department (38 personnel - varies on ship size)

  1	-	Chief Medical Officer*
  4	-	Officers (doctors)
  12	-	Non Commissioned Officers/Ensigns (nurses/physicians' assistants/supervising medical technician)
  21	-	Enlisted (medical technicians/medics/cadets serving internship)

  On duty would be:
  7 Nurses 1st, 2nd, 3rd shift = 21
  1 Petty Officer / 1st class
  2 Petty Officer / 2nd class
  4 Crewmen / 1st class
  
  4 Medical Technicians x 3 shifts = 12
  1 Petty Officer 1st class
  2 Petty Officers 2nd class
  9 Crewmen 1st class
  
  Just like the staff count, the rank will vary. The Chief Medical Officer is the department leader, generally a Commander on big ships over 800, either Lt Cmdr or Lt on smaller ships.
  
  The Assistant Chief Medical Officer / Lt or Lt(jg)
  
  Medical Officer (3rd shift) / Lt(jg) or Ensign
  
  Staff Physician / Lt(jg) or Ensign
  
  Head Nurse / Ensign
  
  The medical staff consists of not only general practitioning physicians, but many specialists. Xenobiologists, cardiologists, surgical specialists, neurological specialists, and OB/GYN specialists are typically present, in addition to dental and orthodontic specialists. Many chief medical officers make it their task to enlist new doctors and expand the boundaries of their department, and one of the best ways to do so is by enlisting specialists.
  
  *Federation Standard Operating Procedures state that until an officer has reached the rank of at least Lieutenant First Class, they will be referred to as "acting department chiefs." The word "acting" will be removed from their title immediately after their promotion to lieutenant.
  
  Posting
  Interaction with the other players is what makes the mission work. A good way to get started would be to set up senior crew physicals when you arrive at your new ship/station. Give the impression you know what you're talking about. You'll be believed.
  
  You will each write your own `chapter' using the information that you've read in other posts. If another member mentions feeling 'hot', and they're not with you in your area, you can still figure they're coming down with a fever. Your character could accidentally come upon him/her. Or you can ask the other character in a private email to develop a joint post (JP) with you.
  
  Should you wish to question your superior officer, you can always ask "permission to speak freely, sir?" Use this sparingly. Some questions challenge the authority of your superior. It may be best to send a private email asking the question and then asking permission to use the question in your post, allowing him/her to answer in their post.
  
  If nothing is happening, you can always run medical experiments or do some character development. A private log, a 'letter' to your parents, etc., would be good.
  
  *An excellent way to communicate with fellow officers is through the private messaging service on the forums. http://www.stfederation.org/forum. This is also an excellent way to discuss medical terms/conditions and jargon with other chief medical officers in the forum, including the authors of this course.
  
  Building your character in your post can happen as you 'remember' an incident. i.e.: "Using the autosuture reminded me of my class in how to wield a scalpel. Cmdr. Knife watched me without comment and then ... in front of the entire class."
  
  The Federation LCARS database is an excellent tool for looking up illnesses, injuries, drugs, etc. It is suggested that as a doctor you make good use of this extensive medical database. Again, the URL is
  http://stfederation.org/lcars/index.html.
  
  Proof read and check your spelling. This is important to the story. If you make a mistake, it can change the meaning of your entire post. Also be careful to include all tags people have responded to, as well as changing what other characters say to third person.
  
  Example:
  "I am promoting you to Lieutenant First Class, effective immediately" I said.
  
  I was overjoyed.
  
  Who was writing the post? It's quite hard to tell. Instead, be sure to do this, if replying to tags left by your Commanding Officer.
  
  '"I am promoting you to Lieutenant First Class, effective immediately" he said to me.
  
  I was overjoyed.
  
  Your responsibilities as the Chief Medical Officer are awesome. They are also rewarding and fulfilling.

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Training Assignments

The following assignments are for completion. They are in the form of scenarios, much like you may experience as medical officer. You will complete the assignments as posts, and (unless otherwise noted),
will leave "tags" for your instructors to fill in, as other members of your ship. The only characters that you will play are members of the medical staff, and your character will be the chief medical officer. Realize that each assignment must be constituted of at least three different posts from you, and to receive exemplary marks there must be more. This is not to be rushed, and the more time you take with it the better your work will be. You will have one week to begin your assignments. If one week elapses, you will be emailed,
informing you that you have 48 hours to either begin an assignment, or withdraw from the class.

Good Luck!
~The Advanced Medical Course Council
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Scenario 1 - Mass Casualty Situation

You have finished an un-eventful shift. Just as you are walking out, you are called to the holodeck, and encounter three young crewmen who decided to remove safety protocols on a mock away mission versus
the Klingons. They are all seriously injured, and must be treated. However, in the middle of treating them, a Romulan bird of prey decloaks and attacks the ship. As you are on a Nova class ship, it is not prepared for such an attack. The CO, XO, OPS, and SEC officers are seriously injured.

Objectives

• Describe how you rescue each crewman from the holodeck, as well as their injuries, in detail

• Describe the injuries of the bridge crew and how you manage to come to their aid

• Be sure to use other characters (NPCs).

• You must choose who lives and who dies--the fate of the bridge staff is in your hands

• HINT—Think about what type of combat Klingons enjoy, and if the young security personnel were fighting them, think about what type of injuries they may obtain.
  
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Scenario 2 - Away Mission in the past

You, the XO, CIO & CSO are ordered to track down and find a Federation Admiral (human) that has cracked under the strain of command. He has managed to go back in time for unknown reasons. Your briefing gives you the bare minimum of information: His appearance, name and current behavior patterns. You follow his bio signature and find yourself on Earth in 1732. *NOTE: ASSUME THAT THE FEDERATION HAS TIME TRAVEL CAPABILITIES, AND YOU ARE ALLOWED TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THEM IN THIS SITUATION.*

Objectives

• Again, be sure to use NPCs but also make use of <<TAGS>> You've learned about TAGS in the academy, also. You're on the away mission with PCs. One of your instructors will reply to your tags and send it back to you. This may very well end up as multiple posts.

• Describe how you arrived and where ?the surrounding area, etc.

• Explain how you will go about finding the Admiral (Remember the Prime Directive)

• When you do find him, what treatment will you use, given his psychological state, to calm him and bring him back to the current time

• Describe the research you do, and what you find.
  
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Scenario 3 - Command Crisis Situation

One of the duties of a Chief Medical Officer is commanding a medical staff. This consists of medics, nurses, and fellow doctors. On that same point, it is advisable to develop a group of NPCs which you use on a regular basis. Some CMOs like to have specialists, such as surgeons or cardiologists. In this situation, the ship is in a battle with the Gorn. The Gorn have developed a new weapon, rendering the ship without
inter-ship communications ?not even combadges work! Using your sickbay staff, and two security personnel who were assigned to guard sickbay in the event of a boarding party arriving near your location, coordinate wounded, treat them, etc.(triage).

Objectives

• Make effective use of NPCs ?you are the only person writing this, so make sure that it's detailed, and with many different characters!

• Explain your triage methods

• Describe how you treat the wounded

• Coordinate the staff at your disposal to access wounded, and figure out what care they need

• Remember no inter-ship communication! The best you've got is shouting!

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Scenario 4 —Diplomatic Medical Situation

The Chief Medical Officer is sometimes called upon to treat a wounded alien. Here you will be asked to treat Cardassians. Your ship has answered a distress call and has discovered a disabled Cardassian freighter. You are Bajoran and have lived with a life long hate for Cardassians. Your CO has hinted to you privately that should an inordinate number of Cardassians die, you may be put on trial for murder, simply because you are Bajoran.

Objectives

• Describe your first encounter with the wounded Cardassians, what the wounds are.

• Explain how you will get them to let you treat them they don't like you either!

• Coordinate your staff and those of the Cardassians as you work to save lives.

• Remember, the Cardassians are now our allies.
  
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Scenario 5 - Research, Applications of Advanced Sciences/Mathematics

You are the CMO of an Olympic-class ship which as been directed to aid a colony at Geki IV. This colony has shunned most modern technologies, save a few essentials (i.e. a subspace communicator to request aid). They have used their subspace communicator to contact the Federation, and formally request aid, because there seems to be a plague striking the colony. On the day that the plague was identified, three people were infected. As it is highly contagious, people are being infected at a rate of 2x, where "x" is the days since it was identified. In short, it is growing exponentially, and there is little that the civilian scientists and doctors can do, other than comfort the infected residents.

Objectives

• Describe your reactions at being given this information (in character)

• Describe the research and calculations you do. You will present this to your CO (who will be played by one of your instructors).

• In character, discover the source of the plague, and describe it IN DETAIL!

• Remember to leave tags for other people, such as civilians, and other members of the ship. You will be responsible for the your medical staff's dialogue, and your own dialogue/reactions as Chief Medical Officer.

• As an added complication, you may become infected yourself. This is not necessary, but it could happen.