Biomedical Equipment Support Specialist (Intensive Care)

Description:

Serves as a Biomedical Equipment Support Specialist (BESS) maintaining life-support, high-risk surgical, or intensive care medical equipment and clinical systems.

Requirements:

BASIC REQUIREMENTS . To qualify for appointment to this position, all applicants must possess the following:

• Citizenship . Be a citizen of the United States (U.S.). Non-citizens may be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens according to 38 U.S.C. § 7407(a).
• Education, Experience, or Certification .
  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.
• 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:
  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
• 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.
• Physical Requirements . See VA Directive and Handbook 5019, Employee Occupational Health Service for requirements. f. English Language Proficiency. Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f).

Grade Determinations :

• 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:
  1. Knowledge of HL7 and DICOM standards.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. Skill in maintaining specialized high-risk, intensive care, or surgical equipment such as ventilators, heart-lung bypass, anesthesia, and intra-aortic balloon pumps.
  5. Skill in performing advanced testing to troubleshoot specialized networked medical equipment and clinical system interfaces.
  6. 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/ .
Biomedical Equipment Support Specialist

The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-12.

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.