Biomed Responsibilities:

                A Biomedical Technologist/Technician (biomed) is a highly trained medical device support specialist. Biomeds support medical devices used to diagnose or treat patients. To competently support a medical device, the biomed has a strong technical understanding and basic clinical understanding of each device. Their education includes electricity/electronics, computer/networking, anatomy and physiology and of course numerous medical devices. Once employed, a biomed’s training never ends and many of us believe it then begins! Medical technology is always evolving, and every medical device requires either self-training or a formal course. The biomedical field is a rewarding career that offers many different paths in support of medical devices. A Biomedical Engineering technologist/technician’s position covers a vast amount of medical equipment ranging from patient monitors to imaging devices such as a CT scanner. The type of equipment supported ranges in complexity from a simple blood warmer to a very complex MRI imaging scanner. Employment can range from working directly for a hospital in the Biomedical Engineering Department or working directly for a medical company.

To work on each medical device, the biomed:

1. Has a clinical understanding of the medical device.
2. Knows how the user sets-up and uses the medical device.
3. Has a strong technical understanding of the medical device.
4. Knows what PM is required for the medical device (preventative maintenance and performance tests).
5. Knows the most common issues with the medical device.

What does a biomed work on?

                The majority of biomeds support medical devices such as patient monitors and the numerous parameters they can monitor, central stations, defibrillators, electrocardiographs, infusion pumps, ventilators, electrosurgery, etc. The next largest group supports imaging devices such as Computed Topography (CT), Magnetic Resonance (MR), Ultrasound (US), etc. An even smaller group are employed as biomedical service managers, senior level biomed support specialists, hemodialysis, medical device sales support, application support, etc. Employment is typically with a company or hospital in the Biomedical (or Clinical) Engineering department. Unfortunately, way too many hospital administrators manage the Biomedical Engineering Department, a clinical department, under the non-clinical IT or Engineering Departments.

How a biomed is an indirect patient-care provider:

                A biomed is a secondary patient care provider and indirectly responsible for patient care. If they do not perform their job properly, patients can be injured.

Here are a few examples of this indirect patient-care:

• A patient collapses at home and is rushed by ambulance to the hospital.
• A nurse triages the patient which includes taking their blood pressure using a patient monitor with the NIBP parameter.

• As the patient was waiting to see the emergency room physician, he went into cardiac arrest and a code-blue was called.
• The code-blue team noted cardiac arrest and decided to defibrillate the patient. After the 3rd attempt, they succeeded, and the patient returned to normal sinus rhythm (NSR)

• After the patient was stable, he was transferred to CCU and placed on a patient monitor. The nurse could not get a good ECG and called the Biomedical Department STAT for help.

• The nurses constantly monitor the patient’s vitals using a patient monitor at the bedside or while at the central station.

• The patient was transferred to telemetry, after a few days in Critical Care Unit (CCU), where he was monitored for a few more days wirelessly.
• The nursing staff was concerned about random patient signal losses and called the Biomedical Department about the concern.

 Is there any question on how important the biomed’s job is or how many people in the hospital will rely on their expertise?

 A Biomed’s Typical Day:

• In the morning the biomed is scheduled to perform preventative maintenance (PM) in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Due for PM are five patient monitors and two defibrillators. The biomed completes the tasks in about three hours and finds one patient monitor with a failed SpO2 finger probe, replaces it and replaces the batteries in one defibrillator which is due for routine replacement. No other issues are found as all pass electrical safety and full functional checks. The PM results are documented for future reference.
• At 1:00PM the biomed is called to go immediately (STAT) to the Operating Room (OR) as an electrosurgery unit (ESU) has failed in the middle of an operation. The biomed quickly swaps the unit out using a backup ESU so surgery can continue. The biomed tests the ESU in OR and finds there is an issue with the return electrode monitor (REM) circuit, notifies the head nurse and takes the unit to the Biomedical Department for further investigation.
• At 1:30PM the electrosurgery unit is apart and the biomed replaces the failed REM circuit board using spare parts stored in the Biomedical Department.
• At 2:00PM the unit is reassembled and the biomed performs a full functional test which now passes.
• At 2:30PM the biomed returns the ESU to OR and notifies the head nurse the ESU is now available. The ESU repair and performance test results are documented.
• Earlier in the day, the Emergency Department manager called the Biomedical Department to raise a concern regarding a drug infusion pump’s accuracy. Prior to leaving for the day, the biomed sets-up the infusion pump to run throughout the night to ensure accuracy at a low pump rate. The biomed will check the volume of fluid delivered when they return in the morning, to ensure low-flow accuracy.

We will experience a shortage of biomeds in the coming years. If you know of anyone looking at a career path (high-school graduate or new career), have them consider this rewarding career! It is a stable medical position with a good salary.