Health Technician (Emergency Department)

Full Job Description

The position is located In the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA), Veteran Health Administration (VHA), VA Medical Center (VAMC) Miami under Surgical Services.

This position serves as a Health Technician (HT), and is a member of the ED team.

The HT provides assistance to the surgeon and other team members during surgical procedures, and participates with the surgical team members in planning and implementing complex procedures under the general supervision of the Emergency Department team.

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 03/10/2026.

You may qualify based on your experience as described below: Individual Occupational Requirements: Positions in this series range widely in type and include support duties to medical or health personnel such as audiologists, speech pathologists, medical officers, and optometrists.

Therefore, technician experience is experience that required application of the knowledge, methods, and techniques of the position to be filled.

In addition to the IOR you may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below: Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-05 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization.

Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: 1) Knowledge of equipment, safety practices, and emergency lifesaving techniques.

2) Ability to assists nursing staff to plan for continuing nursing care/follow up during ED visit. 3) identifies unsafe or emergent conditions of the work and intervenes appropriately.

4) Performs routine work with minimal direction within the appropriate guidelines using interdependent judgment in recurring tasks and referring unusual problems or deviations to supervisor.

5) Utilized prescribed documentation format to compile pertinent, meaningful, and accurate data in the patient's medical record.

OR: Education: Six (6) months of graduate-level education or an internship directly related to the work of the position OR: Combination: A combination of experience and education that meets 100% of the qualification requirements.

For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/.

Major Duties:

The Health Technician (Emergency Department) position is located at the Nursing Perioperative section at the Miami VA Healthcare System and assigned to the approving Nursing (Emergency Department) Nurse Manager or designee.

The ED Health Technician will be assigned to work in the Emergency Department (ED).

The Health Care Technician is a highly skilled position and performs duties that traditionally are done by multiple staff in other services and sections.

The ED Health Technician demonstrates competence in handling emergencies using basic and advanced life support equipment and skills.

The ED Health Technician serves as a member of an interdisciplinary treatment team.

He/she engages in patient care which requires the knowledge and skills as represented by the certified nursing assistant standards.

The ED Health Technician maintains acceptable standards of practice under the direction of a Register Nurse.

He or she performs assignments independently, reporting unusual, new, or abnormal findings to the nursing staff.

The ED Health Technician demonstrates competence in handling emergencies using basic and advanced life support equipment and skills.

Provides effective and immediate care or the critically ill and injured under the direction of a Registered Nurse (RN).

Based upon assessment/findings, works in a collaborative manner to render emergency medical care to adult patients, and on rare occasions, to children.

Duties include, but are not limited to, opening and maintaining an airway, ventilating patients, initiating cardiopulmonary resuscitation, including the use of automatic external defibrillators according to American Heart Association (AHA) guidelines.

Provides emergency care of simple and multiple injury situations, such as controlling of hemorrhage, bandaging wounds, and immobilization of extremities.

Major duties of the Health Technician (Emergency Department) position includes, but are not limited to: Ability to assists RN to plan for continuing nursing care/follow up during ED visit.

Transporting Patients to rooms or assisting RN with transportation to procedure areas/higher level of care.

Ability to perform 12 Lead EKG (left and right), ability to recognize lethal arrythmias on the monitor.

Assists with continuous bladder irrigation by setting up the equipment, emptying the drainage bag, reporting the output findings to the RN and documenting it in local electronic health systems.

Daily Crash Cart and Defibrillator check off, performing oral suction. Ability to assist with minor procedures/therapeutic treatments such as suturing, stapling, incision and drainage.

Responds to urgent ECG requests on a high priority basis. Ability to perform phlebotomy and specimen processing. Ability to collect specimen samples from wounds, oropharyngeal and nasopharyngeal.

Performs POC testing, reports abnormal results to the RN and provider and documents actions taken as per policy.

Ability to adhere to psychiatric intake process and provide care of psychiatric patients in the ED setting.

Recognizes and provides maximal physical, safe and emotional security for patients by taking appropriate actions.

Ability to insert Foley catheters using sterile technique, apply splints of extremities as ordered, to discontinue peripheral IV catheters/heparin locks and inform the RN of the site's condition.

Takes inventory of forms and supplies and assures the necessary forms. Provides the customer with consistent information according to established policies and procedures.

Answers phone calls using approved scripted language and relays messages appropriately.

Work Schedule: Full time, tour of duty 7:30am - 8:00pm, Six 12 - hour shifts and One 8-hour shift per period; rotating weekends/holiday to ensure coverage for the operations of the facility.

Telework: Not approved. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Health Technician (Emergency Department)/PD08479A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized.

Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized