In the eleventh of twelve continuing education sessions, the EWH BMET Honduras students repaired and put back into service twelve dental units and three ultrasound machines. These devices provide and enable medical treatment to patients at public clinics and hospitals in Honduras who have no other options to receive medical care. The 19 participants in the EWH continuing education program are themselves employees at public hospitals and educational institutions from around the country. In the hospitals and clinics they worked as four different teams under the guidance of EWH expert instructors, applying the principles they learned in the classroom to solve practical problems in the field. As always, these programs were executed with the collaboration of Instituto Nacional de Formación Profesional (INFOP), the EWH educational counterpart in Honduras, and made possible by the support of GE Foundation.
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Honduran BMETs repaired 12 dental units during this continuing education session, including this device a CESAMO - La Era. |
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| EWH instructors Nancy Welch and Rafeal Lanza delivered practical hands-on training on operating room equipment. |
From February 4 to 15, 2013, Engineering World Health recently completed the tenth continuing education session for practicing BMETs in Honduras, with the topic of operating room equipment. Practical hands-on repair of anesthesia machines, ventilators, and electrical surgery units (ESU) was delivered by Nancy Welch. Thanks to her leadership and expertise, the 19 participants in the program were able to work together to repair six ventilators, two electrosurgical units, and an anesthesia machine at two of our partner hospitals in Tegucigalpa, Hospital Escuela and Hospital San Felipe. This training session was made possible by on-going support from General Electric Foundation.
In the land of the aurora borealis, cold winters and wet summers, a new year is just dawning and even in southern Sweden, where Lund is located, the days are short and dark. At Lund University however, ambitions are burning bright and an interesting era is just starting.
We are a group of students who are currently on our second year of studying Biomedical Engineering, a program that is new to Lund University and in many ways is one of a kind in the whole of Sweden. We are in a sense pioneers, tramping new ground and setting a new foundation for Biomedical Engineering in Sweden. This has left us wanting more and has inspired us to start up Engineering World Health in Lund.
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West Hughes provides instruction to Honduras BMETs on troubleshooting and repair of a mammography device at Hospital Militar, Tegucigalpa. |
Engineering World Health delivered continuing education on advanced modalities of radiology equipment in Honduras from October 29 to November 9, 2012. Participating biomedical equipment technicians (BMETs) from 13 public and charity hospitals in Honduras attended the course in Tegucigalpa and practiced technical skills on fixed x-ray, portable x-ray, c-arm, computerized tomography, mammography, and panoramic dental x-ray machines. These machines were reviewed in clinical settings at EWH’s partner hospitals in the Tegucigalpa area, including Hospital Escuela, Hospital Militar, and Hospital de Torax. This is the ninth of twelve sessions planned by EWH in the country, and practical hands-on training was delivered by guest instructor Kenneth “West” Hughes.
During this visit, BMETs returned two portable x-ray machines to fully-operational service. At Hospital Escuela, Hughes assisted in the review of the batteries and charging circuit for a portable X-ray in the pediatric unit, which had not be operating according to doctors’ expectations. After careful testing of the circuitry and battery voltage,he determined the error and returned the unit to full service.
In Hospital Torax, a portable x-ray had been unable to move due to a faulty switch the circuitry to drive the motor. The original switch was manufacturer-specific, but Justin Cooper, EWH BMET Manager for Honduras, helped the local BMETs understand the specifications and identify a locally available switch that could be used as a replacement. The Honduran BMETs acted as a team to replace the switch and restore the driving capabilities of the machine.
GE Foundation, Duke University, and Engineering World Health (EWH) hold the closing ceremony of a Biomedical Equipment Technician cohort in Kigali, Rwanda on November 14, 2012 in conjunction with the Integrated Polytechnic Regional Center (IPRC Kigali). This closing ceremony is the result of a three year long intensive program for hands-on medical equipment repair and maintenance conducted within the nation of Rwanda. Students graduating will receive certificates from IPRC Kigali as Biomedical Equipment Technicians (BMETs).
In addition, IPRC has established a full time ab initio BMET training program with four faculty members and will construct laboratory facilities to support the advancement of the BMET program at their campus in Kigali, Rwanda. The ab initio training is provided through IPRC, with assistance from EWH, with the first group of students beginning study in September 2012 and graduating in June 2015.