HTM-Related Stories & Interviews (Including COVID-19 stories)

Call for Your Stories

I hope to bring stories and experiences of Biomedical Equipment Technicians (BMET’s) and Clinical Engineers (CE’s) in the time of COVID-19 to the public via the Washington State Biomedical Association (WSBA) website (www.bmet.org).  What is your story? How has the pandemic affected your work, your life; what struggles have you encountered and then overcome? What victories have you attained? What defeats have you experienced if you can share those too? The WSBA would like to hear from you and share those things that have inspired, challenged and caused you to think outside the box for solutions to anticipated and unanticipated problems.

I realize that some of these experiences may not be appropriate to share with the public: what did not work, clashes with staff or higher ups; poor communication, poor planning or maybe not enough follow through. But maybe from those experiences you can share advice on how to avoid those problems, what works and what to avoid doing or not doing. Your stories matter and we want to hear them.

To share your story and experiences, please contact me at wsba.covid19@yahoo.com. Thank you.

Jim Kenyon, CBET, WSBA Board Member

On the Front Lines of COVID-19 with Biomed / Clinical Engineering

Story No 3:  (September 10, 2020, Jim Kenyon, CBET)

Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center Successfully Deals with COVID-19. 

I recently spoke with Cau Le, Clinical Engineer, at Spokane’s Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center’s Clinical Engineering Department about the group’s experiences with COVID-19 pandemic. Cau has been at PSHMC since November 2008 and works primarily with ventilators and related Respiratory Therapy devices. I started our conversation asking when the first COVID19 patients arrived at the hospital and how the department responded to this new situation. READ MORE

Story No 2:  (June 2, 2020, Jim Kenyon, CBET)

The Covid-19 Pandemic has created one of the most disruptive events in modern history, affecting healthcare as it spreads across the globe.  I spoke recently to several clinical engineers/biomed techs from around the state of Washington to learn more about their experiences in dealing with this fast-changing phenomenon. They were from different healthcare organizations, all large in size. They had many similarities and common situations as you might expect, here is an overview:  READ MORE

Story No 1: (April 23, 2020,  Jim Kenyon, CBET)

I have been in the Biomed field in Washington State for over 33 years. During that time, I worked in the Biomed Department at Good Samaritan Hospital in Puyallup for over 17 years and then changed course switching to field service for 14 years in the Pullman, WA area for the Providence Healthcare organization. My career has been most rewarding, challenging and gratifying. In July, 2019 I retired in hopes of exploring other areas of interest. Recently I completed a 3 month temporarily position at a nearby Critical Access Hospital (less than 25 beds) to fill in for a BMET who was out due to a health issue. As I was finishing my time there, COVID-19 was making its presence known.  READ MORE

Retired BMET Builds UV-C Lightbox At Home

 

Chris Walton, CBET-R, Treasurer & Webmaster WSBA

What do old, retired Biomeds do when COVID-19 hits?  Soldier on like everyone else and find something to build of course!  How about a UV-C disinfecting light box?   READ MORE

Hospital BMETs struggle with lack of parts, training, and manuals during COVID-19 Pandemic:  This 7 minute video produced by Reason TV is an interview of a Texas hospital Biomed who talks about the impact of not having adequate service materials for some essential devices.  It is related to the Right to Repair Movement and how that impacts the COVID-19 situation.  View Video