Biomedical Equipment Support Specialist

Department of Veterans Affairs

Lexington VA Healthcare System

Summary

The Biomedical Equipment Support Specialist is located in the Engineering Service at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Lexington, KY.

The Biomedical Equipment Support Specialist (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.

Location

1 vacancy in the following location :

Duties

The Biomedical Equipment Support Specialist (BESS) requires the application of engineering and mechanical concepts and methodology to provide lifecycle management and technical support of diagnostic, therapeutic devices, monitoring, and other equipment utilized in the practice of medicine, and to improve clinical care provided by doctors, nurses, and other clinical staff throughout VA.

Medical equipment supported by the BESS is maintained to the standards required by multiple accrediting agencies (e.g. Food and Drug Administration, The Joint Commission, the National Fire Protection Association, etc.

Job duties include but not limited to :

• Lifecycle management of all medical systems such as imaging, life support, dialysis, and monitoring to include physical and network support.
• Coordinates and works effectively with other facility support departments including but not limited to Facilities Management Service (FMS), Office of Information Technology (OIT), Patient Safety, Sterile Processing Service (SPS), Logistics, Contracting, Informatics, and Environmental Management Service (EMS).
• Maintains functional knowledge of relevant safety codes and standards of regulatory bodies including, but not limited to, The Joint Commission (TJC), National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI).
• Documents all work performed in the computerized maintenance management system (CMMS). This documentation is completed in accordance with regulatory body requirements, the Office of Healthcare Technology Management (HTM) Documentation of Services policies and guidelines, and other VA requirements.
• Applies basic networking principles to resolve medical system communication issues including, but not limited to, node to server failures.
• As assigned, functions as a Contracting Officer Representative (COR) and keeps appropriate certification levels. Uses knowledge of government contract procedures and documentation requirements to develop statements of work, sole source justifications, other applicable documentation (VA Form 6550, Independent Government Cost Estimate (IGCE), etc.

and to oversee vendor work.

• Investigates, remediates and documents Repairable Medical Device (RMD) recalls and safety alerts issued through the VA Alerts and Recall Management System (ARMS) within established timeframes.
• Maintains knowledge of the state of the art in medical technology, including scientific advances, network protocols, and vendor changes.
• Provides training and education as appropriate to medical technology end users and clinical staff.
• Provides mentoring and technical training to peers and BESS at developmental levels.
• May be tasked with leading and managing installation or upgrade projects for medical devices and systems.
• Additional duties are performed as assigned by supervisor related to maintenance, remediation, and tracking of medical systems (action items, special projects, etc.

to meet mission critical requirements.

Represents Biomedical / Clinical Engineering department on committees and in meetings as delegated by supervisor.

Work Schedule : Monday - Friday, 8am - 4 : 30pm

Telework : Not Available

Virtual : This is not a virtual position.

Position Title / Functional Statement # : Biomedical Equipment Support Specialist / PD07110A

Fi nancial Disclosure Report : Not required

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job
• All applicants tentatively selected for VA employment in a testing designated position are subject to urinalysis to screen for illegal drug use prior to appointment.

Applicants who refuse to be tested will be denied employment with VA.

• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12 / 31 / 1959
• You may be required to serve a probationary period
• Subject to a background / security investigation
• Must be proficient in written and spoken English
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process
• Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP)
• Participation in the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Personnel

Qualifications

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 :
• Associate's degree in Biomedical Electronics Technology, Biomedical Equipment Technology or Biomedical Engineering Technology or in a related technical field such as Electronic Technology or Information Technology AND two years of experience as a Biomedical Equipment Support Specialist, Biomedical Equipment Technician, Field Service Engineer, Medical Equipment Repairer, or Information Technology Specialist
• OR a Bachelor's degree in Biomedical Engineering Technology or in a related field such as Electronics Engineering Technology (EET) or Information Technology.
• OR Completed a military training program in biomedical equipment and two years of experience as a Biomedical Equipment Support Specialist or Biomedical Equipment Technician, Field Service Engineer, Medical Equipment Repairer or Information Technology Specialist.

May qualify based on being covered by the Grandfathering Provision as described in the VA Qualification Standard for this occupation (only applicable to current VHA employees who are in this occupation and meet the criteria).

Grade Determinations : In addition to the Basic Requirements, the following qualification criteria must be met for each grade.

The candidate's qualifications must clearly demonstrate the level of competence required for the grade.

GS-5 (Entry Level) - Applicants will need to meet the Basic Requirements listed above.

• GS-7 : Candidate's must have one year of experience equivalent to the GS-5 grade level. Specialized Experience at this grade level includes (a) Ability to read, interpret, and apply a great variety of technical data such as schematic drawings, wiring diagrams, table charts, mathematical expressions and formulas;
• b) Ability to learn equipment maintenance, operating procedures, and repair procedures from training materials and courses;
• c) Fundamental knowledge of electronics to include analog, digital and microprocessor theory, pneumatics, hydraulics, optics, electro-mechanics, physics, basic networking, and chemistry;
• d) Knowledge of the use of standard level test equipment to include, but not limited to, multi-meters, electrical safety analyzers, patient simulator, storage oscilloscopes, manometers, tachometers, etc;

e) Knowledge of anatomy, physiology, medical terminology, medical equipment, and technology; (f) Knowledge of basic networking, computer / server hardware / software and information technologies and computer virus protection software, available software patches and upgrades, and information security tools (i.

e. Microsoft Office, Windows operating systems, McAfee, etc.).

GS-9 : Candidate's must have one year of experience equivalent to the GS-7 grade level. Specialized Ex