Horacebhunter@bellsouth.net

A BMET for 10 years, Jeremy Compton, CBET, with Winona Health, Winona Minn., has started a Wiki for BMET's to help fill a void he sees in the information exchange in the biomed community.

A Wiki is software that allows users to create, edit, and link Web pages. Users also create collaborative Web sites with Wikis, and this online Web site and resource will allow users to add and edit content collectively.

“I envision the BMET Wiki to become a tool that a biomed could use everyday,” Compton said. “I also believe it could be like no other tool we have used before, integrating video, pictures, and text. We can compile data that may not even have existed or would have taken hours to search for.”

Compton hopes the Wiki can help prevent biomeds from re-inventing the wheel when they are doing research. “Let’s say you need to research isolation transformers,” Compton said. “You might spend some time finding general information, some time finding the regulations, and some time finding vendors. With the Wiki, all the information could be compiled under one article for isolation transformers. So a search that might have taken you an afternoon now takes 15 minutes.”  

Another advantage of the BMET Wiki is that information will have been collected, compiled, and presented by biomeds. “Before, we may have found tidbits of information out of articles that were written for nurses, electrical engineers, or other professionals,” Compton said. “Now, this data will be presented in a way that is relevant to our field.”

He is currently building lists of associations, editorials, educational institutions, manufacturers, standards and regulations, tech questions, tech tips, and vendors on the Wiki.

Compton adds, “A traditional African proverb says, ‘It takes a whole village to raise a child.’ Likewise, it will take a whole biomed community to build a successful BMET Wiki. So next time you are doing some research, please take a moment and add the data to the BMET Wiki.”

Compton hopes the site could be a living source of information for the field. “As with most Wikis, I hope this one will come to life and continue to grow,” Compton said. “I look forward to learning from my fellow BMET's.”

Compton encourages biomeds to contact him via e-mail to discuss the possibilities for this Wiki, and if you know of any BMET who has not heard of it, to please forward the information to them. Explore the Wiki at www.bmet.wikia.com.