Fifth Gate [Text]

[forsometimenow]

Who: Jennifer Keller and you
Broadcast: Fleetwide
Action: N/A
When: August 20th

Since it seems like the Iskaulit is going to be staying with us for a while, I'm kicking around the idea of converting a room or two into a medical clinic of sorts. Since not every ship has a medbay, it'd be useful for people on those ships to have another option, or for people who want a bit more privacy if they need a checkup or to get an injury looked at.

I know our medics are stretched pretty thin, though. Would this idea be feasible? I'm not sure, but I though it was worth bringing up anyway.

Comments

[forsometimenow]

Right- the staffing is my main concern. We can always get more supplies at waystations, but of course, we can't get more people. If enough are willing, though, we can find a way to make it work.

[hearsthesea]

Count me in, in that case. You're right, we need to make medical support more accessible for those who don't have their own and this would be a good step towards that.

[forsometimenow]

Thank you.

Allen pointed out that we'd need financial support in the long term, as well- got any suggestions? I'd hate to charge people, especially if they might be newer and not have a lot of cash to spare.

[hearsthesea]

No, I don't think it's a good idea either. Perhaps we could set up voluntary donations, however. We could also start selling something to raise funds, although I don't know what just yet. The only thing I can offer is bread.

[forsometimenow]

A donation pool was my first thought, too. I don't have anything to offer aside from my medical services myself, but if we ask for donations, that might help somewhat.

[hearsthesea]

Right. It's hard to say how much donations will cover, but do you know roughly how much all of it might cost? I'm afraid I'm not very familiar with how these things are run.

[forsometimenow]

That's a question I haven't put a lot of thought to yet, honestly. If I could get a sponsor interested for some steady income... but I don't want to put the cart before the horse, either. I want to work everything out and find out how much the cost is and what supplies we'd need before starting to work on the clinic itself.

[hearsthesea]

That makes sense. I don't suppose the Fleet's usual sponsors would be willing to sponsor a clinic to that extent, would they?

[forsometimenow]

As much as I hate playing to the cameras, it might be my best shot. After all, they're sending us cratefuls of loot all the time- maybe it'll have more audience appeal if they up the chances for medical drama.

Part of me can't believe I just typed that.

[hearsthesea]

They certainly don't have the kind of taste that makes it easy to accept their generosity, even if it is better than not having anything. Do you think they would do anything that could actually harm patients?

[forsometimenow]

Yeah, most of the time when the sponsors send stuff it's... off somehow. Like the cola bottles that had misspelled names and weird-flavored drinks.

I don't think so. I'd hope not, anyway- but it may not be up to the standards of quality I'd like, too.

[hearsthesea]

You may be right about that. Would it be worse than operating without the equipment? I suppose it might, in some cases.

[forsometimenow]

It would depend on what the supplies were, honestly- it's hard to screw up bandages or splints, but if it was something like medication or medical herbs, that gets a bit more dicey. If I know what something's made of, I can predict allergic reactions or adverse interactions. But if the sponsors send something... who knows if it's made with familiar ingredients or something totally alien?

[hearsthesea]

Oh...right. That could be a problem in other ways as well. Even the usual medical supplies on the ship labs are new to me outside of the augments, so I don't know whether I could tell good medicine from bad on my own.

[forsometimenow]

Exactly. And I don't know everything myself- I doubt Dr. Crusher or Dr. Tam or any of the other medics or healers do. Nobody knows everything, after all. Better to stick to what we can trust.

[hearsthesea]

But of course that presents a different problem, right? Saving might help with money, but even the logistics will be difficult to handle.

[forsometimenow]

Yeah. And as others have mentioned, there are things we can't leave out in the open, but keeping them locked up presents a whole other set of problems.

I still want to go through with my clinic idea, but it's sounding more and more like I'll have to put it on the back burner and work through all the problems first.

[hearsthesea]

It's possible. If so, we should reserve some space for it to use later on, when everything's been worked out. I doubt people will mind saving room for a clinic.

[forsometimenow]

Right- it's not like we're lacking for room over there, anyway. If nothing else, we can keep a cache of any spare medical supplies we can gather.

[hearsthesea]

Good idea. Some of the supplies restock periodically, so we might be able to take advantage of that to stash some away on the Iskaulit.

[forsometimenow]

Exactly. And we can always trade or do work for more whenever we're on a planet.

[hearsthesea]

Yes, that's right. So at least, this won't be impossible.

[forsometimenow]

It'll just take some time and effort. I'm actually a little excited... helping people is what I live to do.

[hearsthesea]

That's a good thing to live for. Are you a doctor? You seemed to know what you were doing when we met on the Iskaulit.

[forsometimenow]

I am, yes- I actually led a team of doctors and nurses back home, so I'm not used to going mostly solo like I have been here.