Jon has been a Biomedical Engineering Technician for seven years where he and his team take care of equipment at the hospital.
Jon was studying to be an MRT (Medical Radiology Technician) when he quickly realized his interest was in the equipment itself. He researched to find out that he could get a four year degree at a university to be qualified to make the devices or get a two year diploma at NAIT (Northern Alberta Institute of Technology) to repair them. Jon chose to be a Biomedical Engineering Technician.
He loves that there is no such thing as a typical day. He gets to fix equipment like patient beds, vital sign machines, defibrillators, patient monitors and lasers. He found he really enjoyed fixing lasers (therapeutic, diagnostic and surgical) so he has specialized in that, although he still gets to fix a variety of other medical equipment.
As technology evolves, they keep up with training and upgrade older equipment. It’s like Christmas for the department when they receive a new piece of equipment to test and set up.
A memorable moment for Jon is when they had an issue with patient monitors in the emergency department. It was critical that they fix this ASAP. They knew the system was old and would eventually need to be replaced, but they were hopeful they could fix it. After trying their best to problem solve as a team, they mentioned this issue to someone outside the department who offered a simple suggestion, try the power adapter. $15 dollars later they had the patient monitors fixed with a new power adapter. Now Jon knows to check this as a potential troubleshoot in the future.
Jon is hopeful that one day they add an information technology technician to the team, as a lot of the newer devices are connected wirelessly or connected to networks.
He’s also excited to hear that recognition week for Biomedical Engineering Technicians exists because recognition leads to support which leads to better patient care and less delays.
Jon, SEIU-West is happy to spotlight the amazing work you and your team does to help our hospitals run smoothly with the machines they need to test and treat patients. Thank you so much for your analytical thinking skills and amazing fixing capabilities!