GWOT Workplace Medical Coverage
May. 16th, 2019 01:37 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
drewkittyThe motorcycle was in good shape.
The two intruders were very, very dead.
Their satchel charge was being studied by Mo through a pair of tripod mounted binoculars.
I could sense his temptation. That much explosive would be _useful_.
But demo techs buy it the same way pilots do - by pushing the envelope just a little.
Mo shook his head.
"Sending an apprentice tech to work it is probably the best approach. I don't dare touch it. But if it's too hard for me, it's definitely too hard for them.
"Your call, boss."
No.
"Echo 18, all stations on the Valley incident. Fire in the hole. Fire in the hole. Fire in the hole. Break. Echo 18, H5, engage satchel charge with gunfire, time now. Execute."
We flattened to the ground as the antimaterial rifle on H5 lived up to its name.
Then there was a KABOOM.
"Continue Alert One, focus on perimeter defense," I directed when our ears stopped ringing.
This was classic for a spoiling attack - a distraction. The enemy, with luck, might think the distraction worked ... at which point we would hand them their asses.
They didn't fall for it. At least, there was no attack.
Too bad. Because it gave me one more reason to dread my evening meeting.
###
The tension was so thick you could cut it with a knife. We were using the infirmary conference room. Everyone dreaded that room, it was where the doctor told you that you or a loved one were dying.
I sprawled at one end of the short table. The vet surgeon took up the other end. Both of us had written notes.
In the center seat, the one remaining, the midwife hesitantly seated herself.
"Close the door," the surgeon ordered.
She did.
"Echo 18 and I have had a talk. About pharmacy medications. And about priorities."
She had carefully not said a word until she'd heard me out. Then she held up a hand, asking for time to think. I'd given it.
"Shit," she'd said. Then we'd worked out an action plan.
"From now on, here's what we're going to do. The pharmacy tech is being reassigned to Landscaping. The new pharmacy tech will be recruited internally. The infirmary guard will audit the pharmacy logs every shift. Echo 18 will audit the pharmacy logs with me weekly.
"UNAUTHORIZED ISSUANCE OF PHARMACY MEDS WILL BE PROSECUTED AS ATTEMPTED MURDER," she screamed suddenly.
That meant a fast trip to the South Gate, and certain death, but not nearly as quickly as one might wish.
"I agree with Echo 18's assessment of how many women you endangered. He and I disagree on this resolution. I think we should throw you out on your ass right now. He thinks we should give you another chance.
"I am reluctantly persuaded to his point of view by one material fact. We don't have another trained midwife available."
I could tell by the look on her face that she was shocked. She'd expected the division to be on gender lines, with me as her enemy and the surgeon as her friend.
"For the next week, you and I will see patients together. I will provide corrective feedback on your performance. I, and only I, will approve any treatment regimen. This includes medications.
"Now we have to discuss something very serious. What was your treatment plan if chemical abortion failed?"
The midwife hesitated, looking back and forth between us.
We did not let her off the hook.
"Um... "
The obvious answer was in all the manuals. Perform a surgical abortion.
WIth what tools and supplies was an entire other subject. We would lightly skip over legal and regulatory authority.
Eventually she stammered it out.
I nodded.
"From now on, your authorization to perform such procedures will be submitted to our Ethics Committee. That is myself, you, Echo 18, Dr. Betty Rize in Psychiatry, and the VP of Human Resources."
"Why is he involved?"
"So I can take the fall. I am a contractor manager. You are a contractor."
Needless to say, my own Employer would lose their collective minds if they realized that I was authorizing medical procedures, let alone controversial ones. But I didn't much care.
Apocalypse doesn't care about the California Medical Practices Act.
The two intruders were very, very dead.
Their satchel charge was being studied by Mo through a pair of tripod mounted binoculars.
I could sense his temptation. That much explosive would be _useful_.
But demo techs buy it the same way pilots do - by pushing the envelope just a little.
Mo shook his head.
"Sending an apprentice tech to work it is probably the best approach. I don't dare touch it. But if it's too hard for me, it's definitely too hard for them.
"Your call, boss."
No.
"Echo 18, all stations on the Valley incident. Fire in the hole. Fire in the hole. Fire in the hole. Break. Echo 18, H5, engage satchel charge with gunfire, time now. Execute."
We flattened to the ground as the antimaterial rifle on H5 lived up to its name.
Then there was a KABOOM.
"Continue Alert One, focus on perimeter defense," I directed when our ears stopped ringing.
This was classic for a spoiling attack - a distraction. The enemy, with luck, might think the distraction worked ... at which point we would hand them their asses.
They didn't fall for it. At least, there was no attack.
Too bad. Because it gave me one more reason to dread my evening meeting.
###
The tension was so thick you could cut it with a knife. We were using the infirmary conference room. Everyone dreaded that room, it was where the doctor told you that you or a loved one were dying.
I sprawled at one end of the short table. The vet surgeon took up the other end. Both of us had written notes.
In the center seat, the one remaining, the midwife hesitantly seated herself.
"Close the door," the surgeon ordered.
She did.
"Echo 18 and I have had a talk. About pharmacy medications. And about priorities."
She had carefully not said a word until she'd heard me out. Then she held up a hand, asking for time to think. I'd given it.
"Shit," she'd said. Then we'd worked out an action plan.
"From now on, here's what we're going to do. The pharmacy tech is being reassigned to Landscaping. The new pharmacy tech will be recruited internally. The infirmary guard will audit the pharmacy logs every shift. Echo 18 will audit the pharmacy logs with me weekly.
"UNAUTHORIZED ISSUANCE OF PHARMACY MEDS WILL BE PROSECUTED AS ATTEMPTED MURDER," she screamed suddenly.
That meant a fast trip to the South Gate, and certain death, but not nearly as quickly as one might wish.
"I agree with Echo 18's assessment of how many women you endangered. He and I disagree on this resolution. I think we should throw you out on your ass right now. He thinks we should give you another chance.
"I am reluctantly persuaded to his point of view by one material fact. We don't have another trained midwife available."
I could tell by the look on her face that she was shocked. She'd expected the division to be on gender lines, with me as her enemy and the surgeon as her friend.
"For the next week, you and I will see patients together. I will provide corrective feedback on your performance. I, and only I, will approve any treatment regimen. This includes medications.
"Now we have to discuss something very serious. What was your treatment plan if chemical abortion failed?"
The midwife hesitated, looking back and forth between us.
We did not let her off the hook.
"Um... "
The obvious answer was in all the manuals. Perform a surgical abortion.
WIth what tools and supplies was an entire other subject. We would lightly skip over legal and regulatory authority.
Eventually she stammered it out.
I nodded.
"From now on, your authorization to perform such procedures will be submitted to our Ethics Committee. That is myself, you, Echo 18, Dr. Betty Rize in Psychiatry, and the VP of Human Resources."
"Why is he involved?"
"So I can take the fall. I am a contractor manager. You are a contractor."
Needless to say, my own Employer would lose their collective minds if they realized that I was authorizing medical procedures, let alone controversial ones. But I didn't much care.
Apocalypse doesn't care about the California Medical Practices Act.
1st Ethics Committee meeting
Date: 2019-05-16 11:40 pm (UTC)"Approved," Dr. Rize said at once. The VP-HR nodded.
"These are all clear cut cases. All twenty-three are approved."
"Just fucking great!" the midwife raged.
It was left to me to explain quietly.
"We have seven drug doses."