Another essential part of the operative team is the surgical technician. The technician’s role is to care for the instrumentation, equipment and other supplies that are required for the operation. Technicians go through extensive training and are highly knowledgeable about the different procedures.  These members of the team will make sure that the operation goes smoothly and that the surgeon can concentrate on you, the patient and the surgical sight, and nothing else. As mentioned in the previous article, sometimes nurses are trained in this role. 

There are many important parts of a technician’s role.  One is to make sure that all specialty instruments, sutures, equipment, machines, and supplies that the surgeon needs are there in the operating room and prepared for the case.  In addition, in order for you to have a safe operation without getting an infection, the technician needs to ensure that all of the instruments, supplies and sterile team members perform in line with sterile technique, in other words, in the way that maintains everything free of bacteria.

In most large cases there will be two technicians that work with the surgeon. One will care for handing over the instrumentation, and the other will be directly helping the surgeon with the operation. 

Other duties that the technician may be involved in are transport, helping the OR nurse, assisting the anesthetist, positioning you on the OR table, cleaning and sanitizing the OR after the operation, and sterilizing instrumentation. If a technician plays his or her role well, the operation will go smoothly and will be safe for you, the patient.