Biomedical Equipment Support Specialist (Intensive Care)
What you'd do
The Biomedical Equipment Support Specialist (BESS) (Intensive Care) provides clinical and administrative support to staff, patients, and administrators for all matters of concern relating to the facility wide lifecycle management of intensive care, life saving, life preserving devices and other medical devices.
Major duties
Major duties include, but are not limited to: Performs manufacturer-level maintenance on life-support, high-risk surgical, or intensive care medical equipment and clinical systems. Performs advanced testing and troubleshooting of advanced intensive care / high risk medical devices involving their interfaces and connections to other medical devices or information systems either directly or through the facility's hardwired and wireless networks. Adheres to Medical Device Isolation Architecture (MDIA) Guidelines in both pre-procurement and during system implementation, and system management. Loads operating system (OS) and clinical application software as needed. Executes VA guidelines when responding to network incident response (due to infection, loss of services or regional and local policy changes). Manages network systems, databases, and interfaces on life-support, high-risk surgical, or intensive care medical equipment and clinical systems. Coordinates and implements cybersecurity measures and disaster recovery plans. Manages the planning, acquisition, and installation of life-support, high-risk surgical, or intensive care medical equipment and clinical systems. May be tasked with leading and managing installation or upgrade projects for intensive care or high risk surgical devices and other medical devices and systems. This includes but is not limited to pre-implementation planning and coordination with end users, vendors, and other onsite support staff (OI&T, Informatics, SPS, etc.) Serves as a subject matter expert on assigned committees, projects, and workgroups. Manages the lifecycle of medical equipment and clinical systems. Lifecycle management encompasses the following: technology assessment including defining requirements and analyzing alternatives with clinical users; technology acquisition including technical evaluation and best value determination of proposed equipment and systems; technology implementation including site preparation, device/system integration, network device security implementation and clinical/technical training; technology sustainment including regular and unscheduled maintenance, upgrades and enhancements, continuing education; end of useful life tasks including decommissioning, data sanitization, and technical evaluation for condition prior to disposal; and strategic planning for end of life replacement in conjunction with clinical services. Troubleshoots medical equipment and clinical systems using a variety of technical data and completes corrective action. Performs incoming inspections and planned maintenance on medical equipment and clinical systems. Documents all work in the designated Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS). Responds to and remediates hazard alerts, recall notifications, and incidents concerning medical equipment and clinical systems. Documents all actions in the appropriate system. Monitors system backups, ensures network connectivity, mitigates cybersecurity vulnerabilities, and maintains clinical systems. Utilizes test equipment in accordance with manufacturer instructions. Manages projects involving medical equipment and clinical systems. Provides customer support to staff, evaluates issues and needs, responds with solutions, and keeps customers abreast of status. Educates staff on the safe operation and user-level maintenance of medical equipment and clinical systems. Serves as a Contracting Officer's Representative (COR) Subject Matter Expert for related contracts. 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 (6550, Independent Government Cost Estimate (IGCE), etc.) and to oversee vendor work. Collaborates with Logistics and Contracting to procure parts and services; functions as a purchase card holder, as required. Develops documentation to purchase commodities and/or vendor services. Manages, monitors, and evaluates contractor performance and addresses issues or deficiencies. Work Schedule: Monday-Friday, 7:00am-3:30pm Telework: Ad-hoc only, per Supervisor's discretion Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: 000000 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized
What you need to qualify
Creditable Experience. To be creditable, the experience must have required the use of knowledge, skills, and abilities associated with current health care industry and required using knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) directly applicable to the assignment and associated within the scope of the BESS profession. Experience is only creditable if it was acquired in the health care industry and is either directly related to the position to be filled or a related field (for example, Biomedical Equipment Support Specialist, Biomedical Equipment Technician, Field Service Engineer, Medical Equipment Repairer, or Information Technology (IT) Specialist). Experience satisfying this requirement may be paid or non-paid employment as a BESS. 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. Associates or higher degree in the biomedical technology or biomedical engineering field; OR Associates or higher degree in electronics, a field of information technology, or engineering (other than biomedical engineering) AND 1 year of creditable experience; OR Completion of the Department of Defense (DOD) biomedical equipment technician training program; OR Completion of a DOD training program in repair and maintenance of electronic systems or information technology AND 1 year of creditable experience; OR Completion of a biomedical engineering technician or Healthcare Technology Management (HTM) certificate program that included an internship or apprenticeship; OR Completion of biomedical engineering technician or HTM certificate program that did not include an internship AND 1 year of creditable experience; OR 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. 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). Grandfathering Provision. Employees in VHA in this occupation, under a permanent, appropriate, and legal placement on the effective date of the qualification standard are considered to have met all qualification requirements for the grade and assignment held including positive education and certification. For employees who do not meet all the basic or assignment-specific requirements in this standard, but who met the qualifications applicable to the position at the time they were appointed, the following provisions apply: Employees may be reassigned, promoted up to and including the full performance (journey) level, or be changed to a lower grade within the occupation, but they may not be promoted beyond the journey level or be newly placed in supervisory or managerial positions. Employees who are appointed on a temporary basis prior to the effective date of the qualification standard may not have their temporary appointment extended or be reappointed on a temporary or permanent basis until they fully meet the basic requirements of the standard. Employees retained in this occupation under this provision who subsequently leave the occupation lose protected status and must meet the full VA qualification standard requirements in effect at the time of re- entry to the occupation. NOTE: This provision is not intended to regularize appointments/placements. Foreign Education. To be creditable, education completed outside the U.S. must be deemed at least equivalent to that gained in a conventional U.S. program by a private organization specializing in the interpretation of foreign educational credentials. English Language Proficiency. Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f). Biomedical Equipment Support Specialist (Intensive Care), GS-12. Experience. One year of creditable experience equivalent to the next lower grade. Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate the following KSAs: Knowledge of HL7 and DICOM standards. 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. 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. Skill in maintaining specialized high-risk, intensive care, or surgical equipment such as ventilators, heart-lung bypass, anesthesia, and intra-aortic balloon pumps. Skill in performing advanced testing to troubleshoot specialized networked medical equipment and clinical system interfaces. Ability to resolve complex failures on specialized medical equipment and clinical systems. Assignment. For all assignments above the FPL, the higher-level duties must be of significant scope, administrative independence, complexity, and range of variety, as described in this standard at the specific grade level and be performed by the incumbent at least 25% of the time. At the advanced level, the BESS, in addition to the duties at the FPL, leverage advanced knowledge in performing manufacturer-level maintenance on specialized high-risk surgical or intensive care medical equipment and clinical systems. This includes systems such as anesthesia, intensive care ventilator equipment, intra-aortic balloon pumps, heart-lung bypass systems, and other advanced operating room or intensive care unit equipment. They manage specialized network systems, databases, and interfaces such as Clinical Information Systems (CIS), Anesthesia Record Keeping (ARK), or other networked medical systems. BESSs (Intensive Care) use specialized diagnostic software, quality assurance tools, and test equipment. They assist in designing and implementing security measures and a disaster recovery plan to prevent loss of patient data from medical equipment and clinical systems. BESSs (Intensive Care) serve as a facility, VISN, or national subject matter expert (SME). They manage projects for specialized, high-risk, surgical, and intensive care medical equipment and clinical systems. Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://department.va.gov/employees/va-qualifications-standards/Biomedical Equipment Support Specialist Qualification Standard The full performance level of this vacancy is GS12. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is GS12. Physical Requirements: You will be asked to participate in a pre-employment examination or evaluation as part of the pre-employment process for this position. Questions about physical demands or environmental factors may be addressed at the time of evaluation or examination.
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