Overview

Medical Supply Technician Joint Base San Antonio

Time to invest in some new footwear because if you’re San Antonio-bound, you’d better show up in boots! The Alamo City is one of the military’s most envied postings and is often referred to as “Military City USA”. Low cost of living, affordable homes, and the lack of state tax on retirement income are a few financial perks to living and retiring in this Texas city. A robust job market that seems partial to government and defense/security contracting ensures employment opportunities for spouses or transitioning service members. San Antonio is the country’s seventh fastest growing city yet has somehow managed to retain a “small town feel.” Quality schools and friendly locals (most with military ties) are additional perks to living in San Antonio.

Some things you should know before you get here: trucks are the norm (the bigger, the better), love for The Spurs (NBA) runs deep, the H-E-B obsession is real (it’s a grocery store), rodeos are life, and don’t call it “San Antone”—that’s just wrong. The community boasts a vibrant Hispanic population, and enhances everything from the food, to the music, to community events. You don’t necessarily need to speak Spanish to get around, but you’d better know how to say barbacoa, tamales, and cascarones. Name brand shopping (IKEA is the latest arrival of note), restaurants, and all variety of entertainment all add to San Antonio’s quality of life. SeaWorld, the San Antonio Zoo, Six Flags Fiesta Texas, and downtown museums are all fun outings for kids and families. Tube or kayak down a river, play or fish in the lakes, or relax by San Antonio’s famous downtown River Walk. Museums, art galleries, and historical landmarks—remember The Alamo?—round out San Antonio’s cultural offerings. Tex-mex cuisine arguably originated here, and some up and coming culinary trendsetters are making a name for themselves in the Pearl District downtown, alongside several notable breweries.

San Antonio has over 300 days of sunshine with some hot summers, mild winters and pleasant spring and fall seasons. San Antonio is in Bexar County (it’s pronounced “BEAR”) in south central Texas, and is just south of the gorgeous Hill Country. It’s only about two hours from Austin, the beach, or the desert.

Working for the Department of Defense comes with an abundance of benefits and perks to include competitive compensation packages, paid-time off, medical benefits, student loan repayments, and retirement package with Thrift Savings Plan to include matching employer contributions.

Responsibilities

MAJOR DUTIES:

The functions of the Centralized Materiel Service (CMS), DOAOS, are to provide operating rooms, wards, clinics and other users with sterile supplies and items of special technical equipment; maintain established supply levels and rotation of supplies; provide and participate in training programs; and plan for resource requirements and develop necessary documentation for materiel acquisition, storage and distribution. The purpose of this position is to decontaminate, prepare, sterilize, store and issue medical supplies to hospital users. Work is subject to independent shift, evening, weekend and holiday schedules.

1. Performs daily spore testing and sterilizer control measures as it relates to quality assurance, principles of sterilization and elimination of cross contamination. Ensures items are free of microorganisms. Identifies proper equipment/ instruments (length, size, and diameter). Assembles, adjusts, maintains, and applies the processing procedures for the full range of medical and surgical supplies and equipment used in the hospital. Identifies and utilizes substitute instruments and equipment necessary to avoid delay or cancellation of surgery or procedures. Performs all phases of sterilization and high level disinfection--steam, hydrogen peroxide gas plasma (Sterrad), and the use of Sporox II. Appropriately packages items for ETO sterilization and arranges transportation for the items. Utilizes the appropriate cleaning agents and techniques in the care of patients' equipment and trays used in the clinics, hospital, and the operating room suites. Researches and applies The Joint Commission {TJC), Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), Federal Drug Administration (FDA) and Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI) standards as they pertain to sterile processing and the distribution of medical supplies. This includes maintaining policies and procedures, quality assurance and professional standards. Reports any deficiencies in safety standards or other areas to the shift leader/NCOIC/OIC of the department. Receives a full range of reusable medical supplies, instruments and equipment from hospital wards, clinics and operating rooms. Decontaminates re-usable items by determining the appropriate method for removing gross contamination (such as blood, tissue, bone) and using equipment such as the ultrasonic cleaner, dryer, and washer decontaminator. Performs operator level maintenance on all CMS capital equipment such as sterilizers and washers. Is capable of troubleshooting equipment and reporting unresolved problems to medical maintenance correctly. Maintains accurate written records of all clinic and ward turn-ins for instrumentation. Loads and operates washer decontaminators, ultrasonic cleaners, steam sterilizers, and Sterrad sterilizers. 

2. Assembles a wide variety of instrument trays and sets used for medical and surgical procedures including, but not limited to, the operating room, special procedures, cardiac cath lab, emergency department, intensive care units, surgical clinics, inpatient/outpatient wards, specialty clinics, and various troop/medical clinics. Carefully selects, inspects, and positions the items within containers to ensure appropriate sterilant contact and to prevent damage from movement during transport. Assures gross contamination has been removed, instruments function properly, and determines the correct packaging for instrument sterilization. Assembles and sterilizes intricate surgical trays and microsurgery instruments for the operating room (trays contain large numbers of unique, non­interchangeable, specialized surgical instruments of similar appearance, with minor variations in size, conformation, and nomenclature, but with major variation in application). Checks for damaged or missing items and arranges for replacements, maintenance, or repair as needed. Methods of inspection include visual inspection via magnification lenses or the use of testing equipment which emits an electric current. Accepts accountability for the transport, tracking, and return of items at storage locations. Responsible for accepting, inventorying, processing, and returning loaner instrumentation from approved surgical vendors. Folds linen and assembles linen packs assuring proper quantity and arrangement of linen, sponges, syringes, sterile indicators and other items. Prepares specialized dressing packs for use in the burn center. 

3. Selects correct sterilizing medium and cycle. Monitors operation of various sterilizers in accordance with established parameters. Monitors and interprets biological challenges processed for each sterilization cycle. Responsible for carrying out established procedures if a biological challenge has failed. Maintains a log of all items received from and returned to the originating wards and clinics as part of the sterilization record. Inventories and replenishes shortages from sterile supply, inspecting for sterility integrity for instrument sets and expendable items. Rotates and restocks outdated supplies on a daily/weekly basis. Maintains, within CMS, a working stock level of surgical supplies and equipment for wards, clinics, and the operating rooms. Inventories single instruments for availability. Initiates requests for items based on the daily schedule of needs as defined by the surgical schedule, individual requisitions from other users, or when reacting to multiple casualty situations by assessing what supplies are on hand and what might be urgently needed. Cleans work tables, storage shelves, cabinets, and washer-decontaminators at the end of each work shift. Cleans all sterilizers weekly. Prepares individual surgical case carts with required instruments and surgical supplies for each scheduled and emergency operative procedure, based on physician preference, availability of supplies, possible substitutions, and age of patient. Maintains an accurate shortage list of low volume or highly critical items needed for multiple cases in order to assist the OR with prioritizing the reprocessing of sets and efficiently managing set utilization on a daily basis.

4. Operate office automation equipment in order to prepare, store, retrieve or otherwise process information in an automated system. Operates an automated office information processing system (computer, printer, etc.), to produce, store and process information material to include the daily surgical schedule and the surgeons' preference cards. Maintains HIPPA standards with respect to protecting patient information. 

5. Trains new civilian and military employees, military OR nursing students and military OR tech students in the CMS department. Instructs at least one in-service for the department on a topic approved by the supervisor per year. Receives routine and periodic training in such areas as the use and functioning of new medical supplies, instruments and equipment, and/or new or improved sterilization practices. Participates in return demonstrations to validate competency. 

6. Receives, decontaminates, inventories, restocks, issues, and maintains the hospital's and outlying clinics' inventory of pediatric and adult crash carts. This requires the ordering of consumable supplies, decontaminating equipment used in patient resuscitation, and interacting with pharmacy personnel to maintain and secure trays of medications with 100% accuracy.

Performs other duties as assigned.

Qualifications

Basic Requirements:

US Citizenship required

Work is subject to independent shift, evening, weekend and holiday schedules; incumbent will be required to rotate all shifts, weekends and holidays. This is an inclement weather essential position.

A personnel security background check is required for this position.

Immunization screening is required for this position.

Pre-employment physical is required.

The duties of this position meet the criteria for compliance with Federal and Department of the Army Drug Free Workplace Programs. Detection of the presence of drugs is warranted. This position is subject to a pre-employment screening, and random testing thereafter, to include testing based on reasonable suspicion and testing due to direct involvement with an on-duty accident.