Patient safety is MDG priority

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Gino Reyes
  • 4th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
SEYMOUR JOHNSON AIR FORCE BASE, N.C. --  An Airmen's attention to detail led a manufacturer to make a product change and improved the quality of care 4th Medical Group customers receive.

Senior Airman James Zwiebel, 4th Medical Support Squadron biomedical equipment technician, single-handedly improved patient safety by identifying an issue with a piece of medical equipment.
"I saw a detail that many others over looked," Zwiebel said. "Patient safety is one of the reasons biomedical technicians exist, it's not easy to convince a company about how unsafe their product is, but if your convictions are strong the truth will come out."

During an equipment inspection Zwiebel noticed a cryosurgical system used in women's health clinic, for a variety of gynecology and dermatology cryosurgical procedures, would over freeze to the handle where the physician controls are. Zwiebel contacted the manufacture about his concerns.

Initially he was shrugged off; however, after 12 months of persistence he was asked for his input on how to improve the item. His recommendations directly lead to a development of a solution that is now marketed.

"Ultimately Airman Zwiebel's idea and forward thinking resulted in the mass production and distribution of a small thermal insulation cover, thus ensuring patient and medical staff safety, " said Tech. Sgt. Justin King, 4th Medical Support Squadron medical logistics flight chief.

The women's health clinic sees approximately 1,200 patients annually and the impact of having a faulty unit would have drastically affected the accessibility to our female based customers, Zwiebel said.

Zwiebel joined the medical career field so he could make a positive impact in someone's life every day. This product improvement allowed him to do that.

"I am excited that it actually worked," Zwiebel said. "The company is well known and pays people a lot of money to catch things like this and it took a senior airman in the U.S. Air Force to catch it, we all make a difference."