Exeter Symposium (Part 13)

Posted on 04 Mar 2016 @ 8:37am by Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm & Commander Allyndra illm Warraquim & Lieutenant Tuula Voutilainen M.D. & Chief Warrant Officer 2 Anthony Duval & EMH Mark X-C "Shirley"
Edited on on 04 Mar 2016 @ 8:42am

1,908 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: Episode 10 - Symposium
Location: Jupiter Station - Deck 75, Auditorium 4
Timeline: MD 82 - 1540 hrs

Previously, on Exeter Symposium (Part 12)...

Naois stood, after having taken a seat in the audience since his own presentation had been done. "But what if the culture denies autopsy, or even medical treatment, and your conscience tells you that you can in fact save a dying or injured patient?" he asked, "are we, as medical professionals, not obligated to do no further harm? Witholding treatment because of a cultural imposement would be doing harm to a patient who might in fact desire otherwise but is afraid to ask. What do we do, if a patient wishes to be treated, and asks for the treatment, but the culture prohibits it? Do we follow the culture propaganda, or do we consent to the patient's wishes?"

"If you know for fact the cultural and/or religious wishes of your patient, I advise to treat it as any other Do Not Resuscitate order," Veri spoke rather nervously. "If the patient does not agree with your actions, they could charge you for Assault, because you knew about their wishes... It is a hard instinct for us to ignore, but it is the patient we must respect for good or ill."

Veri looked around and when she found no more hands, the Deltan smiled brightly and bowed.

"I want to thank you all for attending and I hope all of you leave with something morally to ponder on," Veri spoke in closing.

And Now, the Conclusion...

[ON]

1540 hours; EMH Mk X-b; Presentation: The Holographic Doctor - a Reflection

With her turn finally due on the roster, the EMH could not be anything other than delighted to get the chance to show just how advanced her programme truly was. Taking a moment to tidy her hair and ensure that her uniform was as well fitting as it could be, she took a deep, albeit simulated breath, before transferring herself the main stage and connecting her vocal subroutines to the speaker system in the auditorium.

"Ladies and gentlemen and other assorted organics, I welcome you to what I am sure will be a more than enlightening discussion hosted by yours truly. For those of you who have not brought themselves up to date with the presentation dossier, I am the Emergency Medical Hologram, model X-b, currently assigned to the USS Galileo to supplement its existing medical staff.

As those of you with an interest in photonics may also be aware, the Mark X, my predecessor, and my own programme were designed to work not only as an emergency stand in for an organic physician, but to operate long term as a fully integrated member of the ship's medical staff."

Folding her hands behind her back, the hologram moved back her auburn hair with a flick of her neck, and paced from one side of the stage to the other.

"This constant activity level means that my programme has several unique advantages over previous medical holograms, as well as being able to perform what some organics would see as miracles, but what I see as simply my function aboard ship."

She knew that such a comment would probably draw some rather unpleasant comments from the audience, and for a moment she paused to allow the murmuring amongst her listeners to fizzle out before continuing.

"Whilst many patients still cling to the old belief that their best option for any treatment is that of a fellow organic, I am here to challenge the belief that because I am simply a collection of photons and force fields connected to one of the most highly adaptable databases in known history, I am somehow less capable of offering adequate medical chair."

Taking a step back she triggered the first stage of her presentation in the form of a fellow hologram. To the centre of the presentation area appeared a holographic representation of one of her colleagues aboard ship, and the one that would offer the best point of comparison.

"Doctor Mott here presents himself as one of the most competent physicians aboard ship. Indeed I have had the chance to observe the Doctor in action, and can confirm that he is indeed mildly competent in his duties. As such I felt that he would provide an adequate comparison against my own matrix."

"Bolians are famed for their excellent communication skills. This particular art is on that lends itself well to the required bedside manner of any physician. Whilst some patients may find this comforting, it is surely more preferable to simply receive the best possible care, in the shortest possible time. Therefore whilst Dr Mott here would be more than happy to discuss anything from haircuts on New Romulus to the political status of the Gorn Hedgemony, an EMH such as myself will have already identified exactly what treatment is needed, an appropriate prognosis, and returned the patient to duty in record time."

For a moment she paused as one of the projector screens behind her whirred into life, displaying a simple graph of various unnamed physicians processing time per patient, against a plethora of ship's EMHs.

"As you can clearly see from the data, as a general rule the photonics physicians have the fastest throughput time. I would therefore put it to you my faithful audience, that it is in fact the organic doctors that could learn a thing or two from the photonics."

Scouting out the audience for the real version of the doctor that she had materialised alongside her, the EMH hoped that the Bolian would be here to witness her meteoric rise to the very heights of the presentation world.

"This is of course a simple analysis on one particular variable. As a fair comparison it would only make sense for me to highlight that from time to time even we holograms can make mistakes. I for example went through a rather traumatic period during my programme being upgraded into the wonderful specimen of holographic engineering you see before you. As a result I noticed a 2.54% decrease in my productivity."

That was a joke. Why was nobody laughing? the hologram pondered inside of her simulated head as she prepared to move onto the next element of her presentation. Obviously the organic members of the audience were not quite on tune with her level of wit during this particular presentation. No matter, she would simply have to adapt her method going forward.

"Needless to say, the logic based and thorough methods of a holographic doctor allow several benefits over the traditionally organic physician. Whilst there was once a time that we holograms existed only as playthings, or only as a medical last resort, advancements in the technology behind splended figures such as myself mean that we can now take our rightful places as fully fledged members of Starfleet Medical."

Returning to the centre of the stage, the EMH clasped her hands together in front of her waist.

"This ends our voyage into the future of medical holography. Are there any questions?"

Allyndra was pleased with the EMHs presentation. She did detect the bit of smugness that was there and certainly could be toned down. There were some very valid points.

She stood, "Thank you doctor," she would not call the EMH Shirley here in front of the entire assembly. "You have certainly made some excellent points but I think there is one point that still argues for organics such as myself. What happens when the power goes out?"

The hologram narrowed her eyes as her head of department identified something that was at the very heart of the problem - she was indeed made of nothing more than forcefields and photons, two things which needed a very effective power generation system to work successfully.

"An excellent point Doctor. I am afraid that for now, we holograms would be rather useless in that particular state of affairs. That said, if the power happened to go out then I suggest there would be bigger problems than just the nature of the holographic physician."

"While challenging indeed, organics have been dealing with that for considerable time. I just wanted to point out that there is still some need for us. I will say that the use of photonic doctors other than in emergency situations is something that I can agree with. As you rather nicely pointed out diagnostics and efficiency are increased."

Allyndra sat back down. She had defended the photonic doctor in the past but she was not about to become a Captain Dunsell either.

Duval watched and listened in the audience. 'I gotta hang those guys more often.' as he was expecting boring and dry statistics but what he got was downright fascinating, he listened with rapt attention.

"Doctor Shirley, I have a question," called out Tuula, calling the EMH by the nickname she so hated as a little bit of vengeance on Olsam's behalf, "you've made a compelling case for holograms such as yourselves to be taken seriously as physicians. Could you expand on the use of holograms in other roles where one's personality and ability to make a positive connection with the client is important, such as, say, childcare?"

The very idea of a sophisticated medical holographic program being used to mind smaller organics was almost an affront to the sheer unending capability that holoengineering could offer. Taking a moment to calm herself, she thought of her holographic "daughter" before continuing.

"Whilst childcare has its place, arguably Starfleet is a military organisation and as such the focus of its members should be, in my photonic opinion, on maximising their capabilities within their position, rather than exploring their reproductive capabilities."

Realising she had probably just offended at least a third of her audience based on the sharp uptake of breath relative to the number of organics in the room, the EMH took a moment before expanding on her point.

"However...photonics such as myself would be able to provide care equal to or indeed superior to that of an organic counterpart. A holographic...babysitter..for example, would never tire, run out of wholesome activities to undertake, or be unable to monitor multiple lifeforms simultaneously. Something rather advantageous if my knowledge of younger organics is something to go by."

"Thank you, Doctor Shirley," replied Tuula. "Of course, I suspect any childcare hologram would have to be programmed with a much nicer personality than the EMH series," she added, a not-so-thinly veiled shot.

[OFF]

--

RADM Lirha Saalm
Mission Advisor
USS Galileo

CAPT Jonathan Holliday
Commanding Officer
USS Galileo

Lt Min Nicholas
Chief of Operations
USS Galileo

PO2 Eva Mercy
Propulsion Specialist
USS Galileo
[PNPC Min Nicholas]

Lieutenant JG Drusilla McCarthy
Chief Counsellor
USS Galileo

Petty Officer 2nd Class Rebecca Williams
Yeoman to Captain Holiday
USS Galileo

Lt. Jared Nicholas
Language Specialist
USS Galileo

Nevedno Loz
Science Technician
USS Galileo
PNPC played by Jynn

PO3 Veri
Surgical Nurse
USS Galileo
[NPCed By Gyce]

Lt. j.g. Naois Mercy
Counsellor
USS Galileo
pnpc Tyrion

Cadet SO Wintrow Paragon
Support Craft Pilot
USS Galileo
pnpc Tyrion

Allyndra illm Warraquim
Chief Medical Officer
USSGalileo
as herself and some temp NPCS

Lieutenant Tuula Voutilainen
Medical Officer
USS Galileo

EMH Mk X-b
Emergency Medical Hologram
USS Galileo
[PNPC Holliday]

...and other assorted Galileans

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