Training experience to share Japanese CE system with Thai BMEs : Possibility of participation by BMEs in intensive team care in Thailand

Abstract

In Japan, the Clinical Engineer (CE) Law was enacted in 1987, and we have been active in various fields such as equipment maintenance and clinical work. With the aim of reducing the workload of doctors, task shifting was planned and the CE Law was revised in 2021. Even in Thailand, there is a chronic shortage of medical personnel such as doctors and nurses, and from the perspective of patient safety, it is recognized that specialists in the maintenance and operation of medical devices are essential. In the future, it will be necessary to develop personnel with an eye on the task shifting of Biomedical Engineer (BME) in the field where the diversification of medical devices is expected. In 2019 and 2020, we conducted training for BME training on medical devices made in Japan in this project. Establishment of medical safety for patients became a common issue in the future. The 2021 training focused on team medical care participation, monitoring of critically ill patients, and ECMO and CRRT under mechanical ventilation, especially in the ICU. By making CEs’ participation in ICU team medical care the content of the training, we were able to present problems that would arise as medical devices become more complex in the future, and gain the understanding of the Thai side. In Japan, there is a successful example of a task shifting from doctors to CEs. In Thailand, TPQI (Thailand Professional Qualification Institute) has been established as a standard for BME’s professional ability. Through this project, the Thai side will deepen its knowledge of Japanese-made medical devices and use it for training at its own facility, and as medical devices becomes more diverse and complex in the future, it will be possible to understand the experience of participating in team medical care in Japan. We hope that this will lead to improvements in medical safety.