In a bid to demystify the emergency rooms, Frontline emergency room tries to give the public as much information as possible concerning the running of emergency rooms. Through our blog posts, we often explore the duties of some of our staff members and what they do in our emergency room.
From physicians to lab attendants, we have tried to shed light on what most of our staff members do. In this latest episode, Frontline emergency room explores the duties and responsibilities of technicians in emergency room.
What Technicians Do in Emergency Rooms
Technicians play a very important role in running the emergency room. Without technicians, the workload would be too much for the physicians and they would have really limited time to deal with the more serious complications that patients come reporting. This is why some of the duties in the Emergency room are delegated to the technicians.
The services rendered by technicians vary from clinical to clerical and here is a list of some of the most common roles and responsibilities of technicians in emergency rooms;
Clinical Activities
1. Temperature measurement- This is by far the most common activity that technicians help accomplish in an ER. A lot of people think that the guys who help take temperature measurements when they get to the ER are nurses when in truth they are technicians.
2. Obtaining lab specimen-Technicians are tasked with obtaining the necessary lab specimen from the patients that report to the emergency rooms. In some emergency rooms, the technicians are given extra training and are able to examine the lab specimen and provide feedback to the nurses while in some rooms, a separate lab technician is hired specifically for conducting lab tests.
3. Blood pressure measurement-The other thing that technicians are trained to do in emergency rooms is to take the blood pressure measurements from the patients as part of the preparation for treatment by the physician. While undertaking training, technicians are equipped with clinical information and are therefore able to tell when the blood pressure level is above or below the normal level. They will then write a report to the nurse or physician to enable them to administer the appropriate medication.
4. Phlebotomy procedures-Phlebotomy is a procedure that removes blood from a patient for tests. Technicians are trained to conduct phlebotomy with guidance from the nurse. It is a technical procedure and requires a lot of training before one can master it completely.
5. Triage patient care-In an emergency room, triage is used to award priority to patients with more severe complications to help them get the urgent care they need while the others with less serious complications can wait a little longer. The triage process takes a lot of examination and critical thinking and this is what the technician does. It might look triage is unfair to many but in truth, it has helped save lots of lives in emergency rooms.
Clerical duties of technicians in the emergency room
6. Ushering in patients to the emergency room – emergency rooms are normally full and without proper ushering and organization, it would look like a marketplace. It is the duty of the technician to usher the incoming patients and show them where to sit as they wait to see the physician.
7. Transporting patients into and out of the department-Sometimes as a technician, you will be required to help the nurses and other medical personnel to bring in patients into the department and help them get into the ambulance.
8. Unit secretary functions-In some offices, technicians double as receptionists and secretaries. This is especially common in private emergency rooms which don’t have enough staff members. This means that they will be required to deal with paperwork and monitor the payments at times.
9. Maintain a clean and safe environment- it is the work of the technician to ensure that the emergency room is clean and safe for all the patients and physicians. This does not mean that they become janitors but rather help with cleaning the equipment and generally maintaining good hygiene in the workplace.
10. Bridges communication gap between patients and physicians- technicians help patient to know what they should tell the physician or how to describe their problems. They are important in bridging the communication gap between the patients and the physicians.
Give Frontline Emergency Room a Call Today
Are you in Dallas or Richmond Texas and are looking for the best emergency room to report your emergencies and infections? Look no further than our way here at Frontline Emergency Room. Frontline Emergency Room is a no wait emergency care facility offering the best emergency services to the locals of Richmond, TX and Dallas, TX at very affordable rates.
Frontline Emergency Rooms accept most of the medical insurances on offer in Texas and you should therefore not be too worried about your insurance. We also offer a flexible payment plan and are always willing to listen to you. Give us a call here at Frontline emergency room today and we will gladly be of help concerning any infections, consultations, treatment or any other service you might be in need of.