Photo By Randy Martin | SAN ANTONIO, Texas (May 20, 2020) In the Battlefield Health Trauma Building at Joint...... read more read more
Story and Photos by Randy Martin, NAMRU-SA PAO
SAN ANTONIO, Texas -- Naval Medical Research Unit – San Antonio (NAMRU-SA) is giving some Navy graduates of the Medical Education and Training Campus (METC) Biomedical Equipment Technician (BMET) program practical experience that attacks one of COVID-19’s side effects, a maintenance backlog. The Sailors are assigned to the Navy Medicine Training Support Center (NMTSC) on Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston, Texas.
“Because of the COVID-19 closure we got behind on our preventive maintenance inspections,” said Chief Hospital Corpsman David Snow, NAMRU-SA’s Senior Enlisted Leader and a Navy BMET.
There are more than 1,300 pieces of medical and dental research equipment in NAMRU-SA’s worksites at the Tri Service Research Laboratory and the Battlefield Health Trauma Building. Both research facilities are located at Joint Base San Antonio (JBSA)-Fort Sam Houston, Texas.
Each tool requires a service, inspection, or calibration. About 250 were overdue for periodic maintenance on the sixtieth day of the mandatory social distancing campaign which emptied labs and left equipment secure but unattended.
Snow knew that if the backlog got worse it might jeopardize battlefield health research. He knew about a recent memorandum of understanding between NAMRU-SA and NMTSC which allows for mutual assistance whenever possible. He got support from the executive officers in both commands and eight recent BMET graduates reported for work at NAMRU-SA on May 18.
Dozens more Sailors are completing BMET training at the school and may wait to report to their duty stations worldwide because of the Department of Defense’s movement restrictions. The initiative gives the new technicians experience and mentoring by experts in the BMET career field.
“It’s a daunting task for three individuals,” said Snow. He and two defense contractors, all former Navy instructors at the BMET school take care of NAMRU-SA’s biomedical equipment. “One of the three of us are there supervising and doing quality control and making sure that everything was done to the manufacturer’s specifications,” said Snow.
The new BMET graduates work with NAMRU-SA for three, 8-hour days, each week. The team is able to complete a greater number of work orders in a single day and that is reducing the backlog.
The new graduates document their work in the Defense Medical Logistics Standard Support. Their effort is reviewed for accuracy. It’s a confidence-builder and exactly what the BMETs will be doing when they get to their shops.
“I was a little bit nervous about leaving here because I have never been a BMET before,” said Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class Benjamin Walker. Prior to attending the BMET course Walker was a Navy dental technician. His next assignment is at Naval Medical Center Portsmouth, Portsmouth, VA.
“Having this experience is going to help me slide into my next assignment pretty smooth,” said Walker.
| Date Taken: | 06.10.2020 |
| Date Posted: | 06.10.2020 13:17 |
| Story ID: | 371825 |
| Location: | JOINT BASE SAN ANTION-FORT SAM HOUSTON, TX, US |
| Web Views: | 180 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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