Biomedical Equipment Support Specialist (Intensive Care)

Description:

The Biomedical Equipment Support Specialist (BESS) Intensive Care specializes in intensive care, high-risk, or surgical equipment within a Healthcare Technology Management (HTM) department at a VA facility. The BESS provides clinical and administrative support to staff, patients, and administrators for all matters of concern relating to the facility wide lifecycle management of medical equipment.

Requirements:

Applicants pending the completion of educational or certification/licensure requirements may be referred and tentatively selected but may not be hired until all requirements are met.

Basic Requirements :

• United States Citizenship: Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy.
• Education, Experience, or Certification. Do you have one of the following:
  (1) Associates or higher degree in the biomedical technology or biomedical engineering field;
  OR
  (2) Associates or higher degree in electronics, a field of information technology, or engineering (other than biomedical engineering) AND 1 year of creditable experience;
  OR
  (3) Completion of the Department of Defense (DOD) biomedical equipment technician training program;
  OR
  (4) Completion of a DOD training program in repair and maintenance of electronic systems or information technology AND 1 year of creditable experience;
  OR
  (5) Completion of a biomedical engineering technician or Healthcare Technology Management (HTM) certificate program that included an internship or apprenticeship;
  OR
  (6) Completion of biomedical engineering technician or HTM certificate program that did not include an internship AND 1 year of creditable experience;
  OR
  (7) Hold or having ever held certification as a Certified Biomedical Equipment Technician (CBET), Certified Radiology Equipment Specialist (CRES), Certified Laboratory Equipment Specialist (CLES), or Certified Healthcare Technology Manager (CHTM). Continuous maintenance of certification is not required throughout VHA employment.

Grade Determinations :
For the GS 12-
One year of creditable experience equivalent to the next lower grade.
and
Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities as stated below:
(a) Knowledge of HL7 and DICOM standards.
(b) Skill in applying standards including National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Joint Commission (TJC), and the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI) for safe operation of medical equipment and clinical systems.
(c) Skill in operating test equipment for specialized high-risk, surgical, or intensive care medical equipment such as ventilator testers, mechanical lungs, and anesthetic gas monitors.
(d) Skill in maintaining specialized high-risk, intensive care, or surgical equipment such as ventilators, heart-lung bypass, anesthesia, and intra-aortic balloon pumps.
(e) Skill in performing advanced testing to troubleshoot specialized networked medical equipment and clinical system interfaces.
(f) Ability to resolve complex failures on specialized medical equipment and clinical systems.

Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/ .

Physical Requirements: In accordance with VA Handbook 5019.