March 30, 2010

What good is access without sustainability? This question couldn’t be more appropriate for biomedical equipment technicians in Rwanda. Eleven hospitals throughout Rwanda received substantial medical equipment donations from GE. These donations provided unprecedented access to modern medical care, yet the donations and access alone were not enough to build a sustainable in-country system for equipment maintenance and repair. The EWH Biomedical Equipment Technician training program is actively engaged in a capacity building project encouraging healthcare technology maintenance programmatic sustainability.

With funding provided by the GE Foundation, EWH began BMET training in Kigali, Rwanda on March 22, 2010. Sixteen students representing 16 hospitals (8 of which were recipients of equipment from GE), began classes at the Kigali Health Institute. The first week’s instruction included electrical safety, Biomedical Technician Assistant (BTA) skills, and tool identification.

It was a successful first week of classes in spite of challenges faced by the instructors and the students, including blown computer power supplies, exploding light bulbs, malfunctioning microwaves and car accidents!

Billy Teninty, the EWH BMET Training Program Coordinator, provides instruction during the first week of classes in Kigali.