BIOMEDICAL EQUIPMENT TECHNICIAN is a new profession, having only achieved recognition as a distinct occupation in the 1970s. After all, only recently has medical instrumentation become so sophisticated as to require special training of the professionals who service it.The field burst into the public consciousness in a big way in 2006, when the US Department of Labor forecast that employment of BMETs would soar by more than 20 percent over the next decade. There are two solid reasons for this prediction: the number of seniors is increasing, which means a greater demand for medical services, and biomedical equipment is becoming increasingly complex. The government’s report was highly publicized, and awareness and appreciation of the work performed by biomeds grew accordingly.The primary responsibility of biomedical equipment technicians is to perform preventive and corrective maintenance on sophisticated biomedical and scientific apparatus, and to assume other duties associated with ensuring that the machinery operates at optimum capacity. BMETs sometimes install new equipment in healthcare facilities.The opportunities to specialize in this profession reflect the breadth of the entire medical equipment industry. BMETs can be certified as radiology or laboratory specialists; they can specialize in cardiovascular or surgical equipment technology or neonatal intensive care units; they can cultivate as an area of expertise the sensors and diagnostic software used by medical laboratories that evaluate patients suffering from sleep disorders.Besides an aptitude for electronics and mechanics, troubleshooting and creative problem-solving abilities are among the qualities biomedical equipment technicians should have. Biomedical equipment has an annoying habit of breaking down in a way you don’t expect it to!There is another trait BMETs must possess, which may surprise you: excellent interpersonal skills with a “customer service” approach. This is not a job where you sit at a workbench and repair equipment in isolation. This job requires direct contact with the people who use the equipment you service. BMETs are tasked with teaching doctors, nurses, and allied health professionals how to operate the various devices. In the case of equipment failure, technicians speak, sometimes at great length, with the operators in order to determine exactly when, where and how the equipment is malfunctioning. When the source of the problem is operator error, technicians must employ great tact and diplomacy to explain what went wrong, and demonstrate correct procedures.This is an exciting and constantly changing profession. Over the decades, the primary concerns and initiatives in the field of biomedical technology and equipment have progressed from repairing equipment, to minimizing risk, to enhancing reliability, to establishing connectivity with hospital information systems and information technology divisions. Entirely new technologies have appeared, like automated noninvasive blood pressure measuring devices and the pulse oximeter, which monitors the blood concentration of a patient undergoing anesthesia or critical care. (“Noninvasive” refers to instruments and procedures that don’t require a doctor to enter the patient’s body.) Veteran technicians have seen several generations of electronics in such diverse technologies as analog, digital, and microprocessor-based circuitry, to infant warming devices.Indeed, the opportunity to work with state-of-the art equipment, guided by the most up-¬to-date approaches, is one of the most appealing aspects of a career as a biomedical equipment technician. Another great reward is playing a meaningful role in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of disease. Your work quite literally could save a life!
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