Incident Report - November 9, 2461

[PTiberiusM]

Reporting Personnel: Conner Mab

Job Title of Reporting Personnel: Emergency Physician

Game ID: b30-amxG

Personnel Involved: Captain Quintin Copperfield; Security Officer London Werry; Chief Medical Officer Fernando Gonzales

Secondary Witnesses: Tsezar Oktyabrsky, Medical Doctor - Was directly involved in the situation that led to the incident

Time of Incident: Unknown

Real Time: Approximately 22:10 Central Standard Time

Location of Incident: Medical, Brig

Nature of Incident:

[X] - Workplace Hazard

[X] - Accident/Injury

[ ] - Destruction of Property

[ ] - Neglect of Duty

[ ] - Harassment

[ ] - Assault

[ ] - Misconduct

[X] - Other: Misapplication of Corporate Regulations

Overview of the Incident: A paramedic brought an already deceased corpse to the Medical Bay, the body of Ivan Krustov. This retrieval was performed after the Captain requested that medical staff respond to the disposals area. Following this body being brought to Medical, I received the body in the General Treatment Area and began making my way towards the Cloning area. Over the Medical radio channel, Paramedic Ra'mit Ma'zaira announced that the Head of Security was requesting that an autopsy be performed. I radio back on the Medical channel that I was "On it" to indicate that I was going to perform the autopsy. Dr. Tsezar Oktyabrsky accompanied me to Cloning at this time. Upon arriving at Cloning, I checked the record to confirm that there was no Do Not Clone directive on file for Ivan Krustov. Finding none, I announced over the Medical radio channel that I would begin the cloning procedure. At no time did the Captain, Chief Medical Officer, or a majority of the Heads state that this person was not to be cloned. Dr. Tsezar Oktyabrsky took over the cloning process, loading the patient, scanning, and initiating the cloning process. I returned the body to the body bag and made my way to the autopsy room in the Permanent Morgue. Upon arriving there and beginning the autopsy, I found massive damage all over the patients body, announcing over the radio that I would have to fully dissect the person to confirm where all the damage took place and how it many have occurred. It was at this time that the Medical staff on the radio claimed I had cloned a person who had committed suicide because they had, quoting Nurse Rocco DeFranco, "threw himself down the disposal chute". At this point I pointed out that without any prior psychiatric history from the patient indicating suicidal tendencies and no other evidence indicating that they had willingly killed themselves, that this should be considered a workplace accident.

After the completion of the autopsy, I returned to the Top Level of Medical, where I was detained and taken to the Brig by Officer London Werry. I was informed, by Officer Werry, that I was being charged with "Malpractice" under the orders of the Captain Quintin Copperfield. I plead my case insisting to know what Corporate Regulation I violated and was told, again by Officer Werry, "Gross Neglect". I was offered the option of time in the Brig or to pay a fine. I elected to pay a fine and was charged 1,000 credits. After this I was released, and returned to Medical.

Did you report it to a Head of Department or IAA? If so, who?: No. At the time of the arrest, Chief Medical Officer Fernando Gonzales was the one to point me out to the officer and I was apparently charged by Captain Quintin Copperfield himself.

Actions taken: My department head and Captain were in agreement with the action taken, no escalation on station was available.

Additional Notes: The purpose of this Incident Report is not to insult the honor or quality of any person mentioned within it. I believe this incident has occurred because of a lack of clarity within the appropriate regulations and the facts of the incident. I contend that I am not guilty of "Gross Neglect" and put forth a three part defense against that charge:

1. Ivan Krustov did not commit suicide.
2. My actions were reasonable and proper, even in the event that Ivan did commit suicide.
3. Corporate Regulation and Medical department procedures ill-define the infraction of violating Do Not Clone orders and the Cloning of person who have committed suicide, generating confusion that can only lead to future incidents of this nature, no matter how well-intended a physicians actions are.

While the standard procedure in Nanotrasen for cloning states that a person who commits suicide is not to be cloned, the issue is in what constitutes a suicide. While putting your body into the disposals is incredibly dangerous and hazardous to ones health, it is clear that Ivan Krustov did not intend to kill himself. While his apparent pursuit of a bag of chips, as it was later revealed, was foolhardy, the fact that he so desired those chips proves he didn't want to die. At an extreme minimum, not before he ate those chips and likely he wanted to live to eat many more bags of chips. When a person engages in clearly dangerous conduct for their own satisfaction, and they tragically die as a result, we do not describe the death as a "suicide". It is typically referred to as a "accidental death". Much like an inexperienced Scientist tinkering with a teleportation device, we would not call an incident resulting in their death a "suicide". We would call it a tragic accident, and use all medical technology available to remedy the situation, provided they had no directives to the contrary.

Additionally, for a medical doctor to comply with this requirement, they must be informed of the suicidal nature of the death. Prior to the beginning of cloning procedures, all Medical staff were aware that the Head of Security was requesting an autopsy, implying a suspicion about the cause of death, and of my actions in beginning cloning. At no time did the Chief Medical Officer or Captain state that the death was a suicide and the person should not be cloned. To the contrary, to evaluate my actions using a "reasonable person" standard, the presence of Dr. Oktyabrsky throughout this process and his actions agree with my own. Dr. Oktyabrsky, with all the same information I had and medical expertise, concurred and participated in the cloning process. This probes a number of  questions, to include: If I was acting out of compliance with regulations or department procedure why did no other person on the Medical radio channel, to include Chief Medical Officer Gonzales and Captain Copperfield, express their disagreement or order me to halt my actions at the time they were occurring? If my actions constituted "Gross Neglect", implying I engaged in activities well outside of those considered reasonable, why would an equally informed and equally qualified physician come to the exact same medical decision as me. Even if described as "Malpractice", that is to imply that another equally situated and qualified professional would not make the same decision I did. This description would be contrary to the presence and actions of Dr. Oktyabrsky.

Furthermore, while cloning a person who has committed suicide is against Medical department procedure, there is no Corporate Regulation that specifically handles the violation of a Do Not Clone order or the cloning of a person who has committed suicide. This could be anything from "Failure to Execute an Order" to "Neglect of Duty". The even greater charge of "Gross Negligence" specifically cites that the action would have to do harm to the station or the crew. This regulation is obviously to far, as cloning a deceased person is the opposite of causing harm to the station or crew. In fact, the only mention of cloning in the Corporate Regulations is an infraction for the impediment of a cloning procedure, "Disrespect to the Dead"! And even further, Medical department procedures also state that all haste should be given in reviving a fallen crew member. Reading these regulations and procedures, a physician is expected to both clone someone promptly and only clone in the appropriate scenario. This requires that the physician take into account all known facts to them, including those that can be researched in corporate records. The Corporate Regulations fail to clearly define what would be a violation of making a reasonable effort to make a reasonable decision in cloning. Medical department procedures insist on prompt action, negating the time for a lengthy investigation. In many cases, a cause of death can only be determined by an autopsy, a procedure that is time-consuming to the point of contravening the cloning directives on urgency. So, a physician with all the knowledge they could have could still end up cloning a suicidal person through no fault of their own, specifically because they were attempting to comply with all regulations and procedures.

It is in my opinion that any one of these defenses would be sufficient to reverse my charge, and return the fine of 1,000 credits. Additionally, I would request that all efforts be made to clarify both the Corporate Regulations and Medical procedures in accordance with the outcome of this report.

Edited December 2, 2019 by Bear
Date corrected

[Schmuck Lord]

TO:  Conner Mab, Paramedic, NSS Aurora

FROM: AMS, CCIAAMS, NTCC Odin

SUBJECT: RE: Incident Report

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BODY:

This is an automated message to inform you that your incident report has been received and placed in a queue for the CCIA Division to review.

If necessary, you will be contacted by a CCIA Agent when an investigation begins.

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DTG: 11-23:38-TAU CETI STANDARD-14-2461

SIGN: CCIAAMS

[Bear]

TO: Connor Mab, Emergency Physician, NSS Aurora
FROM: CCIAAMS, NTCC Odin
SUBJECT: RE: Incident Report

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BODY: This is an automated message to inform you that an investigation has now been opened regarding your incident report, and assigned to Saul Walker (abigbear).
You may be contacted by the CCIAA for an interview, or you may contact them directly if you have any questions.
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DTG: 02-20:00-TAU CETI STANDARD-12-2461
SIGN: CCIAAMS

[Bear]

TO: Connor Mab, Emergency Physician, NSS Aurora

FROM: CCIAAMS, NTCC Odin

SUBJECT: RE: Incident Report

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BODY:

The investigation of this incident has concluded, and appropriate action has been taken for affected individuals. 

This matter will now be considered resolved.

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DTG: 09-02:20-TAU CETI STANDARD-12-2461

SIGN: Saul Walker