| [ Summary ] |
In large medical institutions such as university hospitals, many duties are given to clinical engineering technicians (CETs). These duties include the operation of life-support devices, CET support of respirator therapy including hyperbaric oxygenation, assisted circulation using heart-lung machines, cardiac catheterization, pacemaker heart stimulation and blood purification therapies such as hemodialysis. Maintenance and management of medical devices in ME centers, operating rooms, intensive care units and general care wards is another important role for CETs. Technicians must check, adjust, exchange, repair and operate medical devices including respirators, syringes and infusion pumps, as well as defibrillators or AEDs. They must also provide safety education to medical staffs especially information pertaining to medical devices. In our hospital, all the above-mentioned duties are required of CETs.
Ideally all CETs in an institution can safely perform the all required duties. However, this is impossible in practical terms because performing job related duties and job-training are often incompatible. In this paper, the education system for younger CETs in our CET department is introduced. |