The South Carolina Biomedical Association will host its inaugural annual meeting later this month, its first major public event since spinning off from the South Carolina Society for Hospital Engineers last year.

The one-day event is scheduled to be held May 27 at the Trident Technical College Conference Center in Charleston, S.C.

The group hopes to attract biomeds from around the state, who can stay after the conference and enjoy the city for the holiday weekend.
The Palmetto State is home to about 50 hospitals. SCBA estimates about 75-80 biomeds work in the state.

Pat Lynch, membership secretary with SCBA, said they have about 20 registrants for the symposium so far, but he joked that biomeds historically register last-minute, so he expects that number to eventually double. Around 30 vendors will exhibit at the event, he said.

Among the half dozen programs slated for the all-day program are talks from Zoll Medical on defibrillator design, Drager Medical on anesthesia systems and Philips Medical on telemetry problems.

"The education needs of biomeds are so diverse," Lynch told DOTmed News. "Each person will have to select their best thing to attend. I expect the networking and vendor areas will be as useful as anything else."

Lynch said the SCBA struck out on its own last year to provide biomeds with a society that focuses on training and collaboration with vendors around patient care equipment.

Society snapshot

South Carolina Biomedical Association

Year founded: 2010

Number of members: 27 individual members, 10 corporate members

President: Darrin Atkinson, with Loris Healthcare System, Loris, S.C.

Mission statement: "To build an educational platform to enhance the knowledge, skills, and professionalism of the Biomedical and Imaging Technician Community that includes a collaborative network with OEM and ISO institutes focused on a safe and effective medical equipment environment for patient care."

Website: http://scba.onefireplace.com/

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