When Accordia Global Health Foundation offered $800,000 (Shs1.9bn) to Infectious Diseases Institute (IDI), it was directed to training. Mr. Leonard Kalunda, a Biomedical Engineering Technician at Mulago National Referral Hospital, is a beneficiary. Stella Nakakande spoke to him to find out how his newly attained skills are relevant to the hospital.
What is biomedicine?
Bio means life and we combine equipment with life. When we do maintenance of hospital machines, we are saving lives one way or another.
So how does one become a biomedic?
Before, one had to do electronics engineering first then upgrade it to biomedics. Currently though, there is a course in Biomedical Engineering at Kyambogo University, which was only introduced last year in June.
And how did you become a biomedical engineering technician?
I got a Diploma from Kicwamba Polytechnic where I studied electronics engineering. When I came to Mulago Hospital 18 years ago, I got hands-on training in handling medical equipment.
What equipment are you talking about?
There are many, the first are patient monitors which are often used in the intensive care unit but should actually be used in a lot more places to monitor patient progress. There are autoclaves, used for sterilisation of objects and fluids that may be manufactured in the hospital.
We have incubators for premature babies, ultrasound machines, defibrillators which shock the heart when it slows down, analyzers for blood collections and CT scans.
There are also oxygen concentrators which help to generate oxygen when it is turned off in case the hospital runs out of cylinders.
So what exactly is it that you do?
I calibrate or adjust the machines so that they work within a particular figure or produce a consistent amount of a substance. We also do preventive maintenance of the machines as well as their actual repairs. An example is the digital metre which presets the oxygen concentrator to produce a specified amount of oxygen. This is the number one test equipment in Uganda and perhaps the Sub-Saharan region.
What is the importance of this presetting or adjusting of equipment?
Tuning allows for consistence. It is unfortunate we don’t usually calibrate or tune the machines in Uganda.
So, where and what was the training about?
I went to Medicine International Global School in Dallas, Texas, in USA. I went last year in June and the course lasted six and a half months. I got a scholarship through Infectious Diseases Institute courtesy of Accordia Health Foundation.
And what other training have you done?
In China, in 2009, I got training to service and install Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) machine, useful in looking at body parts like the brain. In fact, Mulago Hospital is getting one installed around the end of this year. In Egypt, in 2008, I got training in basic maintenance of the ultrasound machine used often to visualize unborn babies in the womb.
In Italy, in 2008, I got training in fluoroscopy maintenance. This is a form of X-ray where one sees live images after they are injected with a drug. The usual X-ray produces pictures in print one can say. In Indonesia, in 2007, I got some skills in Information Technology. You cannot operate these machines if you do not know how to use a computer properly.
In India, in 2002, I got training in preventive maintenance of laboratory equipment like incubators, the centrifuge which sediments blood at a very fast rate which makes it much easier to define whose blood is HIV positive and who is not under the microscope.
What is expected of you after this?
I will create change and pass on this knowledge to others through demonstrations at my work. I will pass on skills of preventive maintenance.
source
What is biomedicine?
Bio means life and we combine equipment with life. When we do maintenance of hospital machines, we are saving lives one way or another.
So how does one become a biomedic?
Before, one had to do electronics engineering first then upgrade it to biomedics. Currently though, there is a course in Biomedical Engineering at Kyambogo University, which was only introduced last year in June.
And how did you become a biomedical engineering technician?
I got a Diploma from Kicwamba Polytechnic where I studied electronics engineering. When I came to Mulago Hospital 18 years ago, I got hands-on training in handling medical equipment.
What equipment are you talking about?
There are many, the first are patient monitors which are often used in the intensive care unit but should actually be used in a lot more places to monitor patient progress. There are autoclaves, used for sterilisation of objects and fluids that may be manufactured in the hospital.
We have incubators for premature babies, ultrasound machines, defibrillators which shock the heart when it slows down, analyzers for blood collections and CT scans.
There are also oxygen concentrators which help to generate oxygen when it is turned off in case the hospital runs out of cylinders.
So what exactly is it that you do?
I calibrate or adjust the machines so that they work within a particular figure or produce a consistent amount of a substance. We also do preventive maintenance of the machines as well as their actual repairs. An example is the digital metre which presets the oxygen concentrator to produce a specified amount of oxygen. This is the number one test equipment in Uganda and perhaps the Sub-Saharan region.
What is the importance of this presetting or adjusting of equipment?
Tuning allows for consistence. It is unfortunate we don’t usually calibrate or tune the machines in Uganda.
So, where and what was the training about?
I went to Medicine International Global School in Dallas, Texas, in USA. I went last year in June and the course lasted six and a half months. I got a scholarship through Infectious Diseases Institute courtesy of Accordia Health Foundation.
And what other training have you done?
In China, in 2009, I got training to service and install Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) machine, useful in looking at body parts like the brain. In fact, Mulago Hospital is getting one installed around the end of this year. In Egypt, in 2008, I got training in basic maintenance of the ultrasound machine used often to visualize unborn babies in the womb.
In Italy, in 2008, I got training in fluoroscopy maintenance. This is a form of X-ray where one sees live images after they are injected with a drug. The usual X-ray produces pictures in print one can say. In Indonesia, in 2007, I got some skills in Information Technology. You cannot operate these machines if you do not know how to use a computer properly.
In India, in 2002, I got training in preventive maintenance of laboratory equipment like incubators, the centrifuge which sediments blood at a very fast rate which makes it much easier to define whose blood is HIV positive and who is not under the microscope.
What is expected of you after this?
I will create change and pass on this knowledge to others through demonstrations at my work. I will pass on skills of preventive maintenance.
source
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