05/21/2026
Congratulations to Aaron Jones, our Thursday HTM Week winner!
Want to join the fun? Click here to submit your most satisfying repair: https://1technation.com/htmweekcontest
Read Aaron's most satisfying repair here:
In 2008 during Operation Iraqi Freedom, I was a young biomedical equipment technician deployed to Iraq. At the time, I had experience working on medical equipment, but I had never installed a dental chair system before.
One day, several A-dec dental chair systems arrived for a dental clinic being set up overseas. The equipment showed up in boxes with limited documentation, and the expectation was simple: make it work.
At first glance, the task felt way above my experience level. The operatory looked like organized chaos. Parts everywhere. Tubing hanging loose. Electrical connections exposed. Air and water lines needing routing. The kind of scene that makes you quietly stare at the equipment and think, “Alright… where do I even start?”
But that’s one thing military biomed teaches you quickly. Patients do not care whether you feel ready. Providers do not care if you have done it before. If equipment is needed, you figure it out.
I spent hours laying out components, tracing tubing paths, studying diagrams, and learning the system piece by piece in real time. Every small victory built momentum. Mounting the chair correctly. Getting utilities connected. Routing the delivery system. Verifying movement. Tracking down leaks. Solving one issue after another without formal training.
Eventually, after long hours of troubleshooting and assembling everything step by step, the system powered on correctly. The chair moved smoothly. The delivery unit functioned. Air and water worked properly. The operatory was fully operational.
Seeing that completed dental chair sitting there ready for patient care in the middle of a deployment zone was one of the most satisfying moments of my entire career.
That repair was bigger than just installing equipment. It changed my confidence as a biomed technician. Up until that point, I think I still viewed myself as someone who needed instructions or factory training before taking on major systems. That experience completely changed my mindset.
After Iraq, I approached every difficult repair differently. X-Ray systems, ventilators, dental equipment, sterilizers, X-ray systems, anesthesia equipment, ultrasound systems, and countless other devices all became less intimidating because I learned something important during that first A-dec install:
A good biomed does not always need to know everything before starting. Sometimes you become the technician capable of the job by working through the challenge itself.
Even today, years later, I still look back at those photos from Iraq with pride. Not because the install was perfect, but because it represented a turning point in my career. It was the moment I stopped doubting whether I belonged in this field.
