Medical equipment repair shop keeps mission going Published Sept. 3, 2014 By Senior Airman Jake Eckhardt 375th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. -- An optometrist from the 375th Medical Group at Scott checks a patient's eyes, a dentist from the 375th Dental Squadron takes x-rays of a patient's teeth, and a veterinarian from the Scott Veterinary Treatment Facility tests a cat for feline leukemia. They all use a variety of tools that are necessary for their job, but what happens when their tools break? The broken objects get sent to the basement of the Scott Clinic to the 375th Medical Support Squadron's Medical Equipment Repair Center to be fixed. The office repairs equipment from 13 states and 40 DoD sites to include medical, dental, and veterinarian facilities. Staff Sgt. Jordan Herrera, 375th MDSS MERC craftsman, said, "Many times the Guard and Reserve cannot afford to send a person to our school and obtain the needed test equipment and tools to have a functional 'biomed' shop. We are tasked to travel to these sites and perform calibration on all ventilators, anesthesia, and radiology equipment." They also perform quality assurance on defibrillators, suction units, electrosurgical machines and electrocardiographs as well as performing radiographic acceptances and verifying radiographic dose on mammography units and biopsy tables. The medical equipment repair technical school is roughly 11 months long with a 33 percent drop-out rate. Airman 1st Class Rusty Hinds, 375th MDSS MERC technician, said, "Our work ensures the availability, safety and operation of the equipment we are responsible for. Without us, a lot of customers would not have equipment functionality, so we make sure they can perform their mission."