Deborah Nutsugah keeps the operating room equipment working
She is a biomedical technician from Ghana. No surgery happens without her role being covered.
Anaesthetic machines, ventilators, monitors and sterilisers are only safe if someone is responsible for proving that they are.
What a biomedical technician actually does
Deborah Nutsugah is a biomedical technician from Ghana. Her work is the testing, calibration, servicing and repair of the equipment a surgical hospital runs on.
An operating room is a room full of devices that must all be functioning, accurate and safe at the same time. When one fails mid-procedure, the biomedical team is who the theatre calls.
Why this matters beyond the ship
Across many hospitals, donated medical equipment sits unused because nobody was trained to maintain it or no parts were available. Equipment without technicians is not capacity.
Biomedical training is therefore part of what Mercy Ships supports on shore as well as on board.
Volunteering without a clinical degree
People assume a hospital ship needs doctors and nurses. It also needs technicians, electricians, IT staff, cooks, teachers and administrators - and it does not sail without them.
