Comments on: Dare to Be Different—Not Just ‘Mighty Mouse’

By: M.L. Martyn

M.L. Martyn — Wed, 27 Feb 2019 13:35:08 +0000

I enjoyed the article and it was spot on. Still, the problem of identity crisis persists. You can call us what you will, but when the feces hits the oscillator they know who to call, but they’ll be daggoned if they’ll call before a crisis and THEN more oft than not it will be Biomed’s fault (yes, Biomed), somehow. There used to be a story about 3 steel balls, but I can’t recall it with enough clarity to recite it. I see Biomeds’ problem as twofold.
One is lack of respect for the profession. Respect is earned and not bestowed and a name change does nothing to help acquire it. The field must police itself to earn such respect. The certification program we have today, in my humble opinion, has been watered down to where the certified tech is now what old timers would consider and entry level knowledge base. Granted, the old timers might struggle with a few of the topics today, but nothing their in depth background has not prepared them for. I remember asking a technician with a 2 year degree in Biomedical Technology to go to L&D and pick up a toco that was reported broken. She looked at me like I was a Martian with golashes on my furry bunny feet. This is NOT uncommon! Respect? Right. We need to raise the bar.
The second element I believe we need to change, and I have been harping for 30 years to no avail, we need to transform peoples’ thinking to transistion away from the COST center department to where we are a COST AVOIDANCE department. This, of course, includes prepurchase evaluations, technology consistency, technology integration, health professional and biomedical knowledge efficacy and above all else acknowledging and correcting shortfalls as soon as they are identified. Without this your program has stalled and your soaring aircraft will eventually crash.

Oh boy, a big (and old) topic.
What ever happened to the real Biomedtalk? We used to hash out some degree of consistency throughout the country right there. We DO have an identity crisis and I think it is designed by one and perhaps two or more players. BUT…. we have been the worse caretakers of our profession due to lack of cohesion. I’m sorry, but from a Biomed’s perspective AAMI means little. I hate the word Union, but I love the concept of some guiding force pulling us together. Anybody else got a better idea?
OK, I digress a bit and I am now getting off my soapbox.

By: Scot Mackeil CBET

Scot Mackeil CBET — Tue, 26 Feb 2019 23:39:23 +0000

Point Well Taken Rick, As a Biomed my main theme is that today’s Biomeds don’t fix technology, we fix caregivers with technology problems. In a lot of ways caregivers (and their patients) with technology problems need BMETs to be their supermen. That being said, a lot of problems have two faces, the service call where we meet the caregivers immediate needs and the root cause of why the call happened. That is where it gets tough to be a BMET. in some cases, it is a simple fix or you have a call that that re occurs because the root lingers on. Finding time between service calls to address root causes to solve not just one caregivers problem, but to prevent the next call from reoccurring. This is a old familiar problem with no easy answers.

no matter what we call ourselves, caregivers still have the same needs and expectations. A technology problem comes between them and the care of their patient and Biomeds are expected to make the problem go away…

By: William Hyman

William Hyman — Tue, 26 Feb 2019 21:32:46 +0000

AAMI “clarrifying” HTM in a recent blog post may illustrate how ineffective the name change has been in providing clarrity.

By: Rick Schrenker

Rick Schrenker — Fri, 22 Feb 2019 21:23:00 +0000

In reply to Matt Baretich. And only in clinical engineering would their being mentioned in the same article make sense... (Hi, Matt)

By: Rick Schrenker

Rick Schrenker — Fri, 22 Feb 2019 21:00:06 +0000

In reply to Binseng Wang. Thanks, Binseng. I'm contrarian by nature, to put it mildly, but I've always believed we should be able to argue amongst ourselves as well as with others. I'm never been provocative just to be provocative, but I often amp up my arguments about things I care about just to get others to respond with some passion of their own. The field needs it now as much as, if not more than, it ever has.

By: Matt Baretich

Matt Baretich — Fri, 22 Feb 2019 14:58:51 +0000

Great to hear from someone who can quote Mighty Mouse and George Santayana. I’ve always said that the way to be valued is to do something valuable.

By: Binseng Wang

Binseng Wang — Fri, 22 Feb 2019 14:57:30 +0000

Dear Rick: Happy to see that you have changed your mind since you last commented on my similar article in June 2015 (https://24x7mag.com/2015/05/whats-in-a-name/)! Wish our community is more cohesive and willing to fight for the profession, patient safety and high quality care then constantly fighting among ourselves. Good job! Binseng