Christopher Cuevas

Worked various shifts over the years finishing my time there on the weekends as staff/Lead Tech. Weekend shift demands reliability and requires the ability to work independently. I was responsible for routine department work with routine use in the operating room and fluoroscopy exams. Our operating room ran regularly on the weekends doing emergency General cases, Orthopedics, Cystoscopies, GI Studies, and on occasion vascular cases.

At Maryview I spent a few years teaching Operating Room exams and C-arm usage. I also worked doing and teaching pain management exams as well as performing as a Staff Technologist in the main x-ray department. I spent at least two days a week for years doing vascular interventional procedures so I'm very proficient. Teaching became a focus here and I enjoyed working with the students and expanding my own knowledge to stay with and ahead of their questions.

Before leaving Baptist I was the Radiology Weekend Lead overseeing issues in all modalities and the film room/front desk, as well as a few amazing transporters. I learned a whole new appreciation for the challenges leadership face everyday and performed my duties well enough to receive an award and recognition for our entire department for our collective response to a real fire emergency that forced us to evacuate our ER and set up patients in the lobby and waiting area until the Fire Department could test the air to be sure it was safe. During my time there I also still functioned as a working staff technologist doing work in diagnostic, fluoro, and Operating Room cases.

Level One Trauma Center. This is where I got an opportunity to work with and be trained by some of the best most knowledgeable an skilled technologists I have ever worked with. I was given the opportunity to spend a month training and learning in the OR and another few weeks with the tech who was also the Fluoroscopy instructor for the Physicians going through med school at Vanderbilt. I am forever grateful for the staff for the knowledge given to me there and have worked throughout my career to teach and spread this collective knowledge and expertise to make us all stronger as a profession for better care everywhere as it was done for me.

Staff Technologist on Evenings and Weekend shifts. Performed the duties of a Staff Technologist in a very small mountain hospital doing mostly diagnostic exams except during the ski season when we got a lot of Emergency Orthopedic Operating Room cases. I also was the volunteer to get snowed in and spent quite a few nights sleeping in the hospital during inclement weather. Inclement Weather and Emergency Disaster response team availability is something I have always and will continue to do in my career wherever I am employed.

• Staff Duties but not limited to:
• Educated patients on procedure details, provided instructions and answered questions to minimize anxiety and improve cooperation.
• Handled private and confidential information in compliance with hospital policies and procedures.
• Reviewed physicians' orders to determine medical imaging needs and operated radiologic equipment to capture, develop and produce diagnostic images.
• Applied and positioned equipment to take images following set parameters.
• Processed, labeled and organized diagnostic images to match with patient records.
• Captured images using mobile equipment in operating rooms, emergency rooms and patients' bedsides.
• Monitored and managed inventory and supply levels of sterile and non-sterile items, contrast materials, catheters, films and chemicals.
• Minimized patients' exposure to radiation with beam-restrictive devices and shielding techniques.
• Prepared and administered contrast materials, radiopharmaceuticals, anesthetic and antispasmodic drugs for imaging procedures.
• Created images using fluoroscopy, in the department and Operating Room to help physicians assess and diagnose patients.
• Upheld high level of service to patients by assisting in different ways, displaying professionalism and responding appropriately to questions and concerns.
• Complied with HIPAA and company regulations to maintain confidentiality regarding patient health data and medical records.
• Sanitized scanning machines after each patient to prevent spread of germs and illnesses.
• Followed radiation safety measures and used protection devices to prevent harm to patients or staff.
• Welcomed patients and tried to make procedures as pleasant as possible through discretion and personal support
• Helped patients into proper positions for procedures and provided instructions on remaining still for duration of each scan.
• Executed various types of diagnostic imaging procedures on patients ranging in age from toddler to adult.
• Operated mobile scanning equipment to obtain imagery in emergency situations in ER and ICU.
• Monitored patients for signs of adverse reactions or other abnormalities of significance.

Joined the Army Reserves right out of High School and was trained as both a Combat Medic and Radiology Specialist in the Army on active duty. Immediately after graduating the x-ray program I volunteered to be attached to a Military Police Unit as a Combat Medic and deployed to support the US peacekeeping missions in Bosnia and surrounding areas earning Combat Veteran Status. I ended my active duty time in 1997 after my deployment but continued to serve in the Army Reserves until 1999 when I received my Honorable Discharge.