Cardiovascular Technicians

Decypher - Fort Belvoir, VA

Fort Belvoir, VA

Educational Services

About the position

Decypher is seeking an Interventional Cardiovascular Technician to support the mission at Alexander T. Augusta Military Medical Center (Fort Belvoir, VA). Our employees are our most valuable asset and play an integral role in the success of Decypher and our clients. Working at Decypher is not a job, but a career where your talent and energy is respected, and you can personally make a difference.

Responsibilities

• Perform patient assessment, to include chief complaint, history of present illness and current medication, past medical history.
• Obtain lab work, EKG, chest x-ray.
• Provide patient teaching, initiate intravenous access, and obtain vital signs.
• Appropriately utilize aseptic/sterile technique and perform site prep with antiseptic solution and access site-draping.
• Administer procedural sedation giving the appropriate medication, dose, route, and time, including appropriate documentation, monitoring, and administration/use of reversal agents.
• Appropriately prepare and administer adjunctive procedural pharmacotherapy.
• Perform Point-of-care testing and perform operator/user quality assurance testing.
• Provide post-recovery patient monitoring, assessment, and documentation.
• Provide emergency procedure services to include ACLS/resuscitation medications and maintain Emergency cart equipment.
• Operate physiological monitoring equipment and recognize normal and abnormal rhythms, cardiac ischemia, injury, infarction patterns and pressure waveforms.
• Set up and calibrate pressure transducer, properly identify, label, and interpret intracardiac and vascular pressure waveforms.
• Function and operate radiologic equipment to include image intensifier, x-ray tube, C-arm manipulation, panning table, positioning patient, digital subtraction angiography and fluoroscopic imaging in various magnification modes.
• Manage radiographic information to include digital archive stations, image review, data spoilers/laser patterns and digital image quality control.
• Set-up for venous and arterial procedures, use balloon tipped/flow directional catheters to include blood sampling, cardiac output, catheter selections for vessels and anatomic variables, indications risks and precautions for cardiac procedures performed.
• Identify coronary vessels, identify coronary anatomy defined by various angulated views and landmarks, distinguish between projections, identify lesions and thrombus, and estimate vessel lumen size in relation to catheter.
• Operate contrast pressure injectors to include selection of the rate of rise/fall, injection rate, total volume, psi, and other parameters.
• Differentiate between contrast media ionic, non-ionic, and low-osmolar. Recognize and treatment of contrast reactions.
• Set-up, operate, and interpret results of intravascular/cardiac ultrasound, and fractional flow reserve.
• Set-up, function, and use of devices related to foreign body retrieval, angiojet, intra-aortic balloon pump, coil embolization, temporary pacemaker.
• Initiate hemostasis methods and support devices (mechanical closer or hemostasis accelerators) to include manual compression, femstop, radial compression devices, suture devices and collagen/thrombin devices.
• Drape for vascular access studies such as venous: femoral, subclavian, internal jugular, others as indicated. Arterial: femoral and others as indicated.
• Recover procedure rooms at the end of procedures, return unused supply to stock and clean medical equipment per MTF guidelines.
• Assist with transportation of patient from hospital, and those in the air evacuation system requiring IABPs.
• Assist with the orientation of newly assigned staff and medical students.
• Serve on the On-call team for urgent cardiac catheterization (invasive) procedures 24/7 STEMI team and the Interventional radiology 24/7 team.
• Complete daily/weekly/ monthly checks duty checklists pertaining to mission readiness.
• Maintain inventory level of disposable supplies; stock accordingly, complete inventory checklist, requisition supplies and return excess stock.
• Prepare equipment requisition. Ensure emergency equipment is available and functional.
• Prepare reusable soiled surgical items for CMS sterilization: Turn instruments in and retrieve after cleaned.
• Participate in unit training, and competency program.
• Utilize and complete daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, biannual, and annual checklists to maintain the unit in a state of readiness for procedures and patient care.
• Additional duties as assigned such as maintaining cleanliness, serviceability of lead aprons and tracking dosimeters.

Requirements

• Cardiovascular technicians shall possess a high school diploma or equivalent.
• An associate diploma, baccalaureate and/or master's degree and must be a graduate from an accredited school of cardiovascular and interventional training from at least one 22 state or territory in the United States.
• All Cardiovascular Tech shall possess a current, active, valid, Registered Cardiovascular Invasive Specialist (RCIS) certification.
• Must have advanced cardiac life support (ACLS) certification.
• Cardiovascular Technicians shall have a minimum of 5 years catheterization laboratory work experience obtained after graduating from an accredited school of cardiovascular and interventional training.
• Proficient on the selection, function and use of diagnostic and interventional sheaths, catheters, guidewires, guide catheters, balloon tipped catheters, stents, inflation devices, hemostasis valves, and access needles.
• Proficient and function in procedures such as Left heart catheterization, Right heart catheterizations, Left ventricular gram, Percutaneous angioplasty, Percutaneous cardiac interventions, coronary stent placements, foreign body retrieval, Intravascular/cardiac ultrasound, Fractional flow reserve, coronary valve measurements, percutaneous cardiocentesis, cardioversion.

Nice-to-haves

• Ability to learn and function in procedures such as Drain placements, renal angiograms/renal angioplasty, nephrostomy tube placement, port placement/removal, paracentesis, thoracentesis, venaseal and biopsy procedures.