PRESIDENT's CORNER
Well another month has come and gone. We had a really good meeting last month. I would like to personally thank Margaret Blackburn of Advance Sterilization Products for setting up the meeting. The food was great and the presentation was informative. New equipment and or procedures are always interesting to me.We need new members. If you talk about the meetings and invite a college students to attend one, we can grow. The more personalities we have the livelier the discussions can get. Also remember that we are approaching the time that nominations will be requested for officers for next year. Elections are in May. Nominations will be open in March.
I received a letter from Holly A. Newcomb, who works for AAMI. I did not have the information with me at the last meeting. The chapter membership fee has been paid. Any current BMET member wanting to be a SBET Chapter Afflitiate Member is encouraged to pick up an application from me at the February meeting of the BMETS.
When I was into patient monitoring full time, I happened to bump heads with a seasoned nurse practitioner. She told me that my EKG machine did not work properly. It seemed that there was a lot of RF on several of the leads. Of course I went out to the clinic (15 miles) to check it out the next day and she was not there. Everything was fine. I tested, wiggled, pulled, and twisted everything. So I left a service report and told her that everything was fine . . . well almost. The electrodes were tarnished and coated with cream. This could cause her problems. I left the suggestion that someone could clean the electrodes with toothpaste and a toothbrush. Oh by the way, she was the only one having a problem. A week later I was called back . . . same problem.
To shorten this a little: We went back and forth for about six months. I finally arranged a time I could be there when she was working the EKG machine. She was upset and I was upset, but the result was a real education for us both. One intermittent right arm lead (my hit) that only showed up in one position of lead placement (the one she used) and when that was fixed I showed her how to clean her signal up by altering the procedure she had always used.
My question is why had this gone on so long? This is a good example of "Show me your problem and we can get it fixed". This is a good practice for any callback and a great customer service tool.
Bob Cromartie, CBET
President, BMETS
AAMI NEWS
The Association for Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI) along with Society of Biomedical Equipment Technicians (SBET) provides information on important and timely topics related to our field. AAMI is here to serve our needs with a distinctive SBET chapter membership. Members of BMETS can now become members of AAMI or SBET for a greatly discounted fee since BMETS is now a chapter member. Each AAMI/SBET member will enjoy these benefits and services:- FREE subscription to Biomedical Instrumentation & Technology, AAMI's award-winning bimonthly journal.
- FREE subscription to AAMI News, the associations award-winning monthly newsletter.
- FREE employment service.
- FREE AAMI/SBET membership directory.
- Discounted liability insurance.
- Up-to-date information to keep you current in your field.
- Certification programs for biomedical equipment technicians and clinical engineers.
- Discounts on AAMI education programs - annual and regional meetings, seminars, and workshops.
- Plus many more benefits...
TECHNICAL NOTES
The Johns Hopkins Hospital has noticed a common problem with Hewlett Packard's "overview display" model 35731B. This Display is part of Hewlett Packard's OBMS. The majority of Hopkins 18 displays have at one time gone blank due to the failure of a horizontal video processor, IC 40. A easy replacement IC is SK9227 or TDA1180P.
I know there are other institutions which have noticed common failures or are aware of quick fixes to equipment. Please submit these ideas to the newsletter for publishing. What you take for granted could really help another technician.
EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES
Saint Joseph Medical Center
- Biomedical Technician
- Lab and/or imaging experience desirable
(410) 337-1288
FUTURE MEETINGS
The rest of this years meeting
have been planned. On Thursday, March 16th Physio-Control Corporation will hold
a hands on presentation. Jim Springer, sales consultant for Physio-Control will
talk about early defibrillation in the hospital, standards of care. He will
also highlight some of Physio-Controls new defibrillator products which will be
on display.
Our meeting in April will be
sponsored by Marquette. Pro-Active Technologies will then make the years final
presentation in May.
HONORABLE MENTION
Will Oldham, Jr. CBET of Physio-Control has taken the time to draw up a strong possibility for BMETS future emblem. It would be nice to have more then one emblem to choose from when the society makes a decision. Please bring your ideas to next months meeting (they don't need to be drawings just ideas).
SUPPORT for CERTIFICATION
Now that it has become a
requirement to get continuing education credits to maintain certification. I
would like to organize a committee to help plan an annual three, or more day
symposium. This symposium would be open to members, non-members, and students.
The courses would be on the technical level or on applications training. They
could also include a refresher/prep course for certification with the exam to
follow.
In order to put together this
symposium I will need volunteers to help with the organization. This group will
need to make decisions such as, which courses and workshops should be offered,
and whether or not the courses qualify to have CEU point. They will also need
to decide which classes would be beneficial to the areas hospitals, which
companies would be willing to participate, and where/when/how long the
symposium would be. It will also require a lot of time working with companies
to discount or donate instruction and/or
materials.
If you have any suggestion or
wish to help your fellow Biomeds please feel free to contact me.
David Eber,
CBET
Secretary, BMETS
| BMETS - The Baltimore Medical Engineers and
Technicians Society, Inc. - is the Clinical/Biomedical Engineering organization
for Baltimore and surrounding area. Membership is open to anyone with an
interest in clinical engineering. Articles for publication in this newsletter
should be sent to: David A Eber, CBET 6008 Cedar Wood Drive Columbia, MD 21044 |