Vital work at Clinical Engineering department
Are you slipping and sliding outside? I hope this weather means spring is just around the corner and that means high school graduates are starting to make some big life decisions. One career that I’m sure most haven’t considered is bio-medical engineering. There are biomedical equipment technologists that work in the Medicine Hat Regional Hospital’s Clinical Engineering department.
The Clinical Engineering department is small but vital. They work behind the scenes within the hospital to keep our medical equipment running smoothly. There are six biomedical equipment techs and two electronic technicians. They support Alberta Health Services in Medicine Hat, Brooks, Bassano, Bow Island and Oyen with medical equipment repairs, maintenance and evaluations. They even have their own vision statement; “We collaborate to support patient care, by providing timely, responsible technical expertise, ensuring device safety, promoting the safe application and lifecycle management of healthcare technology.”
Clinical Engineering has a workshop on the first floor of the hospital where most repairs take place. With the new expansion, the department will have a larger workspace and an additional work area within the Surgical Suite. This is to ensure surgical equipment stays within the clean environment reducing the risk of transferring bacteria.
Clinical Engineering holds a very important role in our hospital. The department inspects all medical equipment that enters the hospital. Sometimes that means the techs have to go wherever the equipment is located. Typically, they work regular daytime hours but if equipment fails, they are called in after hours. If equipment isn’t in top working order, procedures may be cancelled.
They do such a good job here in Medicine Hat that we often have equipment that becomes unable to repair because there are no longer parts available. Without biomedical equipment technologists, we would have to wait for a supplier to send someone to the hospital and hope they have all the parts with them to complete the repair. As you can see this would be very time consuming.
Thank you to all the biomedical equipment technologists!
Heather Bach is the executive director of the Medicine Hat & District Health Foundation. The Health Foundation supports all AHS related equipment and programs within Medicine Hat and area. If you would like to support any of the current needs please call the Health Foundation at 403-528-8133 or visit www.myhealthfoundation.ca