Medical and Counseling Responsibilities

Medical officers are responsible for the physical and mental well being of the crew of their ship or station.

This includes:
- Routine checkups of physical health
- Providing emergency care to crew that have become sick or injured
- Conferring with the command staff about possible health risks on a mission
- Managing normal medical supplies as well as being responsible for mission specific supplies
- Managing missions that are primarily medical relief in nature

Medical officers can be doctors, nurses, dentists, therapists, etc. These are the people that are responsible for making sure that the other crew members are in good physical and mental shape to do their duties. This includes regular checkups that are to be enforced by the medical teams.

Of course should someone receive an injury or become sick beyond the basic sniffles or scrape, the medical team will be responsible for these cases as well. Care of patients will be solely at the discretion of the medical team.

Should a mission involve situations or materials that can affect the health of the crew, the medical team will be called upon to assist. This can include planning the mission, preparing special medications to counter possible problems, as well as briefing away team members on things they may need to know in these regards.

A medical crewmember will be expected to know about their chosen focus so that when they are needed, they can assist without delay. To this end medical crewmembers are often studying and experimenting to increase their knowledge when there is not a more immediate need.

All medical supplies are managed by this team. That includes any possible cargo that may have effects on the crew. They will be responsible for cataloging and maintaining these supplies until they are consumed or removed from the ship.

In addition to furnishing medical care and treatment to ship’s personnel, the medical department conducts routine inspections to ascertain the sanitary conditions of certain spaces. It inspects the ship’s messing, food service, living, berthing, and working spaces.