Health Technician - Patient Escort Services

Summary

The Health Technician is assigned to the Patient Escort Service (PES), a subsection within the Nurse Executive Office (NEO). The primary mission of The primary mission of the Health Technician PES is to provide allied support of patient care functions to active duty, reserve, and Veterans of the United States Armed Forces and allied beneficiaries receiving health care services at VAPSHCS, Seattle Division.

Duties

Duties include but are not limited to: Manages dispatch operations; Manages high numbers of calls using multiple incoming lines. Receives and processes calls, prioritizes callers requests, delegates transport duties to personnel Patient Escort Section personnel. Ensures dispatch equipment is working properly (e.g., Checks to make sure digital phone, computer, and other communications devices are online and operating properly upon posting for dispatch duties. Deals calmly and courteously with callers to actively listen to requests, assess the situation, and provides assistance to best diffuse tense situations and assist patients. Uses Safe Patient Handling (SPH) equipment and skills to perform patient transports, transfers, lift assists, and other clinical maneuvers to render mobility assistance to patients. Transports patients receiving IV sedations, blood product transfusions, chemotherapy agents, or are on cardiac monitors in accordance with policy and regulations. Adheres to patient monitoring requirements when Transporting patients throughout the medical facility. Starts and/or adjusts gaseous flow rates (per instructions of nurses) on patients receiving oxygen (O2) or air by wall-mounted unit or e-cylinders (O2 Tanks). Transports decedents in accordance with policies to the morgue. May be required to assist medical staff with the preparation of decedents for viewing. Transports chemotherapy substances, medications, lab and blood products, and equipment in accordance with agency safety precautions. Obtains signature/initials of receiving medical staff at the point of delivery. Manages centralized dispatch operations to ensure timely and efficient dispatch of personnel to affect patient transportation needs and delivery of required resources throughout the medical facility. Transports Reusable Medical Equipment (RME) to Sterile Processing and Decontamination to be cleaned and sanitized. Returns cleaned rolling stock to respective wards, clinics, and ready-for-use staging areas. Performs periodic wash-down and sanitation of Reusable Medical Equipment (RME) per established policy and regulations. Ensures that RME is properly labeled following sanitation and before staging for use. Uses proper application of infection control practices and techniques, hand hygiene practices, body substance isolation (BSI), and personal protective equipment (PPE). Prioritizes emergency requests and dispatches personnel to respond according to the situational needs in response to deliberate requests, code calls, and other emergency requests. Utilizes Automated External Defibrillator (AED) on patients presumed to be in cardiac distress per established policy and procedures. Assists doctors and nurses managing clinical emergencies (codes) and uses Safe Patient Handling equipment and techniques to perform patient lifts, transfers, and other assistive maneuvers during emergency responses. Monitors patients (one-on-one) during transport to ensure they remain in stable condition and understand where they are going. Engages verbally with patients during transport to monitor patient's condition and to ensure that all of the patient's needs are being addressed. Explains the patient transport process to patients to ensure that they understand how to obtain mobility assistance throughout the facility or transportation arrangements when they are ready to leave. Work Schedule: 8:00am-4:30pm work schedule to be discussed during interview. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Health Technician - Patient Escort Services/PD40984A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 09/30/2026. You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below: Individual Occupational Requirement (IOR): ALL applicants must meet the IOR as a basic requirement in order to qualify for the 0640 occupational series. Specialized Experience: 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. OR Education and Training: (For positions at the GS-4 level only): Successful completion of 2 years of study that included at least 12 semester hours in subjects related to the position. Transcripts Required) ENGLISH LANGUAGE : In accordance with 38 U.S.C. 7402(d), no person shall serve in direct patient care positions unless they are proficient in basic written and spoken English. GS-4 Qualifications: You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below: Experience: You must have six (6) months of Generalized Experience and six (6) months of Specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-3 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. General Experience: Any type of work that demonstrates the applicant's ability to perform the work of the position, or experience that provided a familiarity with the subject matter or processes of the broad subject area of the occupation. Examples of General Experience would typically include but are not limited to: Independently performing duties such as independently performing customer service duties. Specialized Experience: Examples of Specialized Experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Performing patient transports, transfers, lift assists, or other clinical maneuvers to render mobility assistance to patients Dispatching operations Prioritizing telephone calls Monitoring patients Transporting patients/medical equipment Providing indirect or direct patient care. OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have successfully completed a full 4-year course of study leading to a bachelor's degree, with major study or at least 24 semester hours in subjects directly related to the position. (Transcripts Required). OR, Combination: For GS-5 level positions, only education in excess of the first 60 semester hours of a course of study leading to a bachelor's degree is creditable toward meeting the specialized experience requirements. Two full academic years of study, or 60 semester hours, beyond the second year is equivalent to l year of specialized experience. (Transcripts Required) 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/.

Education

A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education. Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qual