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Medical Equipment Preparers

It's a bright outlook for

This career will grow rapidly in the next few years.

Learn more about what they do.

Prepare, sterilize, install, or clean laboratory or healthcare equipment. May perform routine laboratory tasks and operate or inspect equipment.

Related: Cardiovascular Technologists & Technicians Endoscopy Technicians Medical & Clinical Laboratory Technicians Medical & Clinical Laboratory Technologists Surgical Technologists

Industries: Health & Counseling

Summary
Details

Assist hospital staff with patient care duties, such as providing transportation or setting up traction.
Operate and maintain steam autoclaves, keeping records of loads completed, items in loads, and maintenance procedures performed.
Organize and assemble routine or specialty surgical instrument trays or other sterilized supplies, filling special requests as needed.
Report defective equipment to appropriate supervisors or staff.
Stock crash carts or other medical supplies.
Start equipment and observe gauges and equipment operation to detect malfunctions and to ensure equipment is operating to prescribed standards.
Disinfect and sterilize equipment, such as respirators, hospital beds, or oxygen or dialysis equipment, using sterilizers, aerators, or washers.
Purge wastes from equipment by connecting equipment to water sources and flushing water through systems.
Deliver equipment to specified hospital locations or to patients' residences.
Operate and maintain steam autoclaves, keeping records of loads completed, items in loads, and maintenance procedures performed.
Operate and maintain steam autoclaves, keeping records of loads completed, items in loads, and maintenance procedures performed.
Clean instruments to prepare them for sterilization.
Record sterilizer test results.
Examine equipment to detect leaks, worn or loose parts, or other indications of disrepair.
Maintain records of inventory or equipment usage and order medical instruments or supplies when inventory is low.
Start equipment and observe gauges and equipment operation to detect malfunctions and to ensure equipment is operating to prescribed standards.
Check sterile supplies to ensure that they are not outdated.
Attend hospital in-service programs related to areas of work specialization.
Deliver equipment to specified hospital locations or to patients' residences.
Assist hospital staff with patient care duties, such as providing transportation or setting up traction.

Complex Problem Solving
- Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.
Speaking
- Talking to others.
Management of Personnel Resources
- Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.
Service Orientation
- Looking for ways to help people.
Programming
- Writing computer programs.
Coordination
- Changing what is done based on other people's actions.
Systems Evaluation
- Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.
Equipment Selection
- Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.
Active Listening
- Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
Repairing
- Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.
Operations Analysis
- Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.
Installation
- Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.
Judgment and Decision Making
- Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.
Learning Strategies
- Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.
Active Learning
- Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.
Operation and Control
- Using equipment or systems.
Management of Material Resources
- Managing equipment and materials.
Operations Monitoring
- Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.
Management of Financial Resources
- Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.
Reading Comprehension
- Reading work-related information.
Critical Thinking
- Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
Mathematics
- Using math to solve problems.
Social Perceptiveness
- Understanding people's reactions.
Technology Design
- Making equipment and technology useful for customers.
Systems Analysis
- Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.
Persuasion
- Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.
Equipment Maintenance
- Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.
Writing
- Writing things for co-workers or customers.
Instructing
- Teaching people how to do something.
Negotiation
- Bringing people together to solve differences.
Time Management
- Managing your time and the time of other people.
Science
- Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.
Monitoring
- Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.
Troubleshooting
- Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.
Quality Control Analysis
- Testing how well a product or service works.

Written Expression
- Communicating by writing.
Sound Localization
- Noticing the direction that a sound came from.
Far Vision
- Seeing details that are far away.
Manual Dexterity
- Holding or moving items with your hands.
Gross Body Equilibrium
- Keeping your balance or staying upright.
Speech Clarity
- Speaking clearly.
Originality
- Creating new and original ideas.
Reaction Time
- Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.
Category Flexibility
- Grouping things in different ways.
Number Facility
- Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.
Speed of Closure
- Quickly knowing what you are looking at.
Oral Comprehension
- Listening and understanding what people say.
Auditory Attention
- Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.
Hearing Sensitivity
- Telling the difference between sounds.
Finger Dexterity
- Putting together small parts with your fingers.
Gross Body Coordination
- Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.
Deductive Reasoning
- Using rules to solve problems.
Flexibility of Closure
- Seeing hidden patterns.
Mathematical Reasoning
- Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.
Depth Perception
- Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.
Speech Recognition
- Recognizing spoken words.
Written Comprehension
- Reading and understanding what is written.
Oral Expression
- Communicating by speaking.
Night Vision
- Seeing at night or under low light.
Rate Control
- Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.
Wrist-Finger Speed
- Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.
Explosive Strength
- Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.
Near Vision
- Seeing details up close.
Extent Flexibility
- Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Dynamic Flexibility
- Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Problem Sensitivity
- Noticing when problems happen.
Inductive Reasoning
- Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.
Perceptual Speed
- Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.
Visual Color Discrimination
- Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.
Peripheral Vision
- Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.
Glare Sensitivity
- Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.
Multilimb Coordination
- Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.
Fluency of Ideas
- Coming up with lots of ideas.
Visualization
- Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.
Information Ordering
- Ordering or arranging things.
Spatial Orientation
- Knowing where things are around you.
Selective Attention
- Paying attention to something without being distracted.
Memorization
- Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.
Time Sharing
- Doing two or more things at the same time.
Control Precision
- Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.
Stamina
- Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.
Arm-Hand Steadiness
- Keeping your arm or hand steady.
Response Orientation
- Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.
Speed of Limb Movement
- Quickly moving your arms and legs.
Static Strength
- Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.
Dynamic Strength
- Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.
Trunk Strength
- Using your lower back and stomach.

Computers and Electronics
- Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
Customer and Personal Service
- Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
Administration and Management
- Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
Food Production
- Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
Engineering and Technology
- Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
Education and Training
- Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
Telecommunications
- Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
Communications and Media
- Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
Sales and Marketing
- Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
Physics
- Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.
Geography
- Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
Administrative
- Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
Economics and Accounting
- Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
Design
- Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
Building and Construction
- Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
Mathematics
- Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
Public Safety and Security
- Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
Philosophy and Theology
- Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.
Sociology and Anthropology
- Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.
Transportation
- Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
English Language
- Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, and rules of composition and grammar.
Psychology
- Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
Mechanical
- Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
Production and Processing
- Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
Personnel and Human Resources
- Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
History and Archeology
- Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
Chemistry
- Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
Biology
- Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
Fine Arts
- Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
Therapy and Counseling
- Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
Law and Government
- Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
Medicine and Dentistry
- Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
Foreign Language
- Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.

Education

High school diploma or equivalent

Work Experience

No work experience

Training

1 to 12 months on-the-job training

Education and Training Opportunities

Washington Annual Salary

51190/yr

Washington Hourly Wage

24.61/hr

Currently Employed

2,160

Yearly Projected Openings

330

Realistic: People interested in this work like activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They do well at jobs that need:

Cautiousness
Attention to Detail
Dependability
Integrity

Automated endoscope reprocessor systems AERs
Bar code reader equipment
Chemical or gas sterilizers
Desktop computers
Dry heat or hot air sterilizers
Ear plugs
Heat tracing equipment
Heating or drying equipment or accessories
Laboratory flasks
Medical exam or non surgical procedure gloves
Medical staff aprons or bibs
Medical staff isolation or cover gowns
Pressure regulator
Protective gloves
Steam autoclaves or sterilizers
Sterilization biological kits
Sterilization heat sealers
Sterilization indicator strips
Sterilization test packs
Surgical instrument brushes or instrument stylets or instrument wipes
Surgical isolation or surgical masks
Surgical surgeon caps or hoods
Temperature regulators
Ultrasonic cleaning equipment

Calendar and scheduling software
Data base user interface and query software
Document management software
Electronic mail software
Inventory management software
Materials requirements planning logistics and supply chain software
Medical software
Office suite software
Presentation software
Spreadsheet software
Time accounting software
Word processing software

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Medical Equipment Preparers

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