By Boyd S. Campbell CBET, CRES, CHTM
As biomedical professionals, we often work behind the scenes – ensuring equipment is safe, calibrated, and reliable before it ever reaches a patient. It’s easy to think of what we do as purely technical work, but every now and then, something happens that reminds us of the human side of our profession.
While in biomedical school, there was one lesson that always stood out: “Never walk away from a device unless you would be comfortable having it used on a loved one.”
That principle really hit home for me about a month ago. My fiancée was diagnosed with a rare form of breast cancer that accounts for only about 1% of all breast cancer cases. It was discovered in one of the most unlikely places – the dermatologist’s office. Fortunately, the dermatologist had seen one similar case before in his career and immediately performed a biopsy. Unfortunately, the results came back positive for Paget’s Disease of the breast.
As our journey continued, the next stop was the surgeon’s office to prepare for surgery – only the third such case he had ever treated. The surgery went well, requiring a partial mastectomy. From there, we visited the oncologist and then the radiation oncologist. It’s a path many others have walked before, but for me, the biomed side of my brain couldn’t help but pay attention to something else along the way.
At every stop, I found myself checking the inspection stickers on the medical equipment being used. At the dermatologist’s office – where the biopsy was performed – the equipment had been inspected by Southeastern Biomedical. At the surgeon’s office, the same. The oncologist’s office? Once again, Southeastern Biomedical.
But the story doesn’t end there. As my fiancée continues her journey, she is now preparing for radiation therapy. Knowing the facility where she will receive treatment, I have the utmost confidence in the care she will get. Why? Because I know that the devices the radiation physicist will use are of the highest quality. How do I know this? I’ve supplied that facility with Fluke Biomedical and Raysafe products for many years. And there’s one more reason for my confidence — Southeastern Biomedical provides the on-site calibration services for all their biomedical test equipment.
As a biomedical technician and co-owner of Southeastern Biomedical, that realization struck me deeply. What we were taught in school wasn’t just a professional standard or a safety protocol – it was a life lesson. It reminded me that the work we do every day truly touches people’s lives, sometimes in the most personal way imaginable.
Every inspection, every calibration, and every record we document represents a promise – that someone’s loved one can trust the device being used to diagnose or treat them. That’s why we can never forget that early lesson: “Never walk away from a device unless you’d want it used on someone you love.”
