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Medical Equipment Preparers
Prepare, sterilize, install, or clean laboratory or healthcare equipment. May perform routine laboratory tasks and operate or inspect equipment.
Also Known As:
Central Processing Technician (CPT)
Central Service Technician (CST)
Central Sterile Supply Technician (CSS Technician)
Certified Registered Central Service Technician (CRCST)
Instrument Technician
Sterile Preparation Technician
Sterile Processing Technician (Sterile Processing Tech)
Sterile Processing and Distribution Technician (SPD Tech)
Sterile Technician
Sterilization Technician
Wages
Annual wages for Medical Equipment Preparers in United States
Job Outlook
Bright
New job opportunities are very likely in the future
United States
2034 Projected Employment
84,200
10% Change From 2024
Explore Medical Equipment Preparers video
Tasks you might complete in a day.
- Report defective equipment to appropriate supervisors or staff.
- Operate and maintain steam autoclaves, keeping records of loads completed, items in loads, and maintenance procedures performed.
- Operate and maintain steam autoclaves, keeping records of loads completed, items in loads, and maintenance procedures performed.
- Start equipment and observe gauges and equipment operation to detect malfunctions and to ensure equipment is operating to prescribed standards.
- Deliver equipment to specified hospital locations or to patients' residences.
- Assist hospital staff with patient care duties, such as providing transportation or setting up traction.
- Stock crash carts or other medical supplies.
- Purge wastes from equipment by connecting equipment to water sources and flushing water through systems.
- Disinfect and sterilize equipment, such as respirators, hospital beds, or oxygen or dialysis equipment, using sterilizers, aerators, or washers.
- Organize and assemble routine or specialty surgical instrument trays or other sterilized supplies, filling special requests as needed.
- Clean instruments to prepare them for sterilization.
- Maintain records of inventory or equipment usage and order medical instruments or supplies when inventory is low.
- Start equipment and observe gauges and equipment operation to detect malfunctions and to ensure equipment is operating to prescribed standards.
- Operate and maintain steam autoclaves, keeping records of loads completed, items in loads, and maintenance procedures performed.
- Examine equipment to detect leaks, worn or loose parts, or other indications of disrepair.
- Record sterilizer test results.
- Attend hospital in-service programs related to areas of work specialization.
- Check sterile supplies to ensure that they are not outdated.
- Deliver equipment to specified hospital locations or to patients' residences.
- Assist hospital staff with patient care duties, such as providing transportation or setting up traction.
Subject areas you may need to master.
- Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
- Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
- Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
- Sales and Marketing - Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
- Food Production - Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
- Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
- Telecommunications - Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
- Engineering and Technology - Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
- Geography - Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
- Physics - Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.
- Communications and Media - Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
- Economics and Accounting - Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
- Administrative - Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
- Psychology - Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
- Public Safety and Security - Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
- Design - Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
- Building and Construction - Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
- Mathematics - Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
- English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, and rules of composition and grammar.
- Philosophy and Theology - Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.
- Sociology and Anthropology - Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.
- Transportation - Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
- Production and Processing - Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
- Personnel and Human Resources - Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
- Biology - Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
- Foreign Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.
- Fine Arts - Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
- Medicine and Dentistry - Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
- Mechanical - Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
- Chemistry - Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
- History and Archeology - Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
- Therapy and Counseling - Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
- Law and Government - Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
Strengths you may need in this role.
- Management of Personnel Resources - Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.
- Complex Problem Solving - Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.
- Coordination - Changing what is done based on other people's actions.
- Service Orientation - Looking for ways to help people.
- Equipment Selection - Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.
- Operations Analysis - Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.
- Programming - Writing computer programs.
- Active Listening - Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
- Repairing - Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.
- Speaking - Talking to others.
- Systems Evaluation - Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.
- Management of Financial Resources - Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.
- Management of Material Resources - Managing equipment and materials.
- Learning Strategies - Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.
- Installation - Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.
- Critical Thinking - Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
- Active Learning - Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.
- Operation and Control - Using equipment or systems.
- Mathematics - Using math to solve problems.
- Judgment and Decision Making - Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.
- Social Perceptiveness - Understanding people's reactions.
- Technology Design - Making equipment and technology useful for customers.
- Operations Monitoring - Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.
- Reading Comprehension - Reading work-related information.
- Science - Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.
- Quality Control Analysis - Testing how well a product or service works.
- Instructing - Teaching people how to do something.
- Time Management - Managing your time and the time of other people.
- Persuasion - Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.
- Equipment Maintenance - Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.
- Systems Analysis - Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.
- Monitoring - Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.
- Negotiation - Bringing people together to solve differences.
- Troubleshooting - Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.
- Writing - Writing things for co-workers or customers.
- Oral Comprehension - Listening and understanding what people say.
- Written Expression - Communicating by writing.
- Gross Body Equilibrium - Keeping your balance or staying upright.
- Hearing Sensitivity - Telling the difference between sounds.
- Speech Clarity - Speaking clearly.
- Manual Dexterity - Holding or moving items with your hands.
- Finger Dexterity - Putting together small parts with your fingers.
- Gross Body Coordination - Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.
- Originality - Creating new and original ideas.
- Category Flexibility - Grouping things in different ways.
- Mathematical Reasoning - Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.
- Number Facility - Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.
- Deductive Reasoning - Using rules to solve problems.
- Flexibility of Closure - Seeing hidden patterns.
- Far Vision - Seeing details that are far away.
- Sound Localization - Noticing the direction that a sound came from.
- Auditory Attention - Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.
- Reaction Time - Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.
- Speed of Closure - Quickly knowing what you are looking at.
- Depth Perception - Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.
- Written Comprehension - Reading and understanding what is written.
- Speech Recognition - Recognizing spoken words.
- Oral Expression - Communicating by speaking.
- Night Vision - Seeing at night or under low light.
- Near Vision - Seeing details up close.
- Dynamic Flexibility - Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
- Inductive Reasoning - Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.
- Perceptual Speed - Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.
- Wrist-Finger Speed - Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.
- Extent Flexibility - Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.
- Rate Control - Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.
- Explosive Strength - Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.
- Problem Sensitivity - Noticing when problems happen.
- Visual Color Discrimination - Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.
- Peripheral Vision - Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.
- Time Sharing - Doing two or more things at the same time.
- Stamina - Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.
- Speed of Limb Movement - Quickly moving your arms and legs.
- Information Ordering - Ordering or arranging things.
- Spatial Orientation - Knowing where things are around you.
- Memorization - Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.
- Glare Sensitivity - Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.
- Arm-Hand Steadiness - Keeping your arm or hand steady.
- Control Precision - Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.
- Static Strength - Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.
- Response Orientation - Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.
- Dynamic Strength - Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.
- Trunk Strength - Using your lower back and stomach.
- Multilimb Coordination - Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.
- Fluency of Ideas - Coming up with lots of ideas.
- Visualization - Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.
- Selective Attention - Paying attention to something without being distracted.
Average Education Attained
Highest level of education earned by people in this career.
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Content sourced from United States Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration ("DOLETA") and the Minnesota Department of Employment & Economic Development ("DEED")