BY K. RICHARD DOUGLAS
Alaska holds many records when it comes to U.S. states. Of the 20 tallest mountains in the U.S., 17 are in Alaska. The state has 6,640 miles of coastline. That is nearly eight times California’s coastline. Alaska is the largest state in the U.S. The state’s motto is “North to the Future.”
Although the summers are generally mild, the winters can be difficult. The combination of the vastness of the state and the harsh winter weather can make many jobs that require travel more challenging. To put the size of the state into perspective, Alaska is larger than Texas, California and Montana combined. It is 665,400 square miles.
From an HTM perspective, this presents a number of challenges when it comes to servicing remote locations, getting parts to remote locations or simply providing biomed technician coverage throughout the state. It is a daunting challenge to say the least.
For the same reason, uniting the biomeds in Alaska, in these distant, and sometimes isolated locations, is not only a challenge but vital. The pandemic, and the more remote separation from the lower-48, proved this to be true.
This is a key focus of the state’s new HTM association; the Alaska State Biomedical Association (ASBA). It will fill a void and provide some new cohesiveness to the biomed professionals in this far-north territory.
“The ASBA is making history as we speak. For the first time, southeast, central and western Alaska healthcare technology managers have met together to share knowledge and comradery. Our membership includes technicians who support remote facilities in the northern most cities of the USA and remote sites, military personnel, educators from high schools and universities, managers, directors and students, in-house programs and third-party service providers,” says Jason Cook, CHTM, who started the group.
Cook is the director of the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium Healthcare Technology Management program. Most recently, he served as the director of Alaska Clinical Engineering, which provides statewide biomedical and imaging field services for tribal health organizations.
Cook has also served in several biomed/HTM societies. He has held roles with the Philadelphia Area Medical Instrumentation Association and the Washington State Biomedical Association. This experience equips him with the knowhow to put an HTM association together in Alaska.
The new association has not yet appointed officers. It has coordinators for the time being. Besides Cook, the other coordinators include Jeff Slone and Craig Cumbie.
“Nearly 40 percent of the state’s population is in one city and the majority of our membership is spread out in remote Alaska, so our meetings are virtual,” Cook says.
“We have not obligated the members to commit to the rigors of appointing officers yet. We are getting to know each other for the first time. The initial purpose of our organization is to create a network of information sharing and education, which was desperately needed during the height of the pandemic. No frills or formalities; just functionality. It’s kind of the Alaska way,” Cook adds.
He says that as the new members and coordinators get to know each other’s strengths, he is confident that leaders will emerge to take the ASBA to the next level.
The ASBA’s mission is broken down into several goals to help the state’s HTM professionals. Cook says that the mission includes:
“Create an environment which allows the members access to educational and technical information, professional development and networking. Exchange ideas for new instrumentation, standards and government regulations. Promote better communication between manufacturers and biomedical programs and inspire local students to join the field of healthcare technology management,” he says.
Other components of the ASBA’s mission include upholding the principles of quality biomedical departments and technicians, matching those with excess resources to those with needs, promoting and organizing local service training, preparing for ICC CBET certifications and sharing employment opportunities.
Staying in Contact Across the Miles
The new group facilitates meetings through Zoom, in order to accommodate all of the biomeds in more remote locations. Cook says that although 40 percent of the state’s population resides in Anchorage, the majority of members are spread out across the state.
The association’s meetings are monthly; the third Wednesday of the month at 12 p.m.
“The most recent meeting topic was ‘How to maintain equipment safely when the manufacturer goes out of business.’ We had a lively discussion, sharing ideas and experiences. Each member has had experience supporting equipment when the manufacturer goes belly up and they asked questions and shared what has worked and suggestions. After this discussion, we had an intense match of Biomed Jeopardy. We split up into teams and competed. Answering questions related to AAMI certifications that spanned CBET, CRES and CHTM topics,” Cook says.
While the COVID-19 pandemic created a number of challenges for biomeds in the continental U.S., the lessons it taught biomeds in Alaska included the need for a central HTM organization.
“Approximately two years ago, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, biomedical/clinical engineering/healthcare technology management in Alaska realized its worst-case scenario. We were physically isolated from our industry counterparts and vendor contacts in the lower-48 because of travel restrictions,” Cook says.
He says that department directors, managers and technicians scrambled to find ways to maintain the safety of healthcare technology with limited staffing and resources.
“Because of our daily experience managing the challenges of supporting medical technology in Alaska, we were able to think outside of the box and find solutions. We learned many lessons. However, one of the greatest lessons learned was that we could have benefited greatly from an Alaska State Biomedical Association,” Cook adds.
Cook explains the uniqueness of working as a biomed in the state and why it created special challenges during the pandemic.
“Many of the locations around the state can only be reached by plane or boat. All travel was restricted for a period of time. Vendors could not fly into the state. Many facilities are off the road system. The only way to get to Alaska, a state that has minimal vendor service representation, is by plane, boat or driving through Canada for two to three days,” he says.
The young organization will provide many benefits to its membership and solve many existing problems as members plan for the first conference in 2023.