Medical Equipment Preparers
Prepare, sterilize, install, or clean laboratory or healthcare equipment. May perform routine laboratory tasks and operate or inspect equipment.
77,420 people do this job in the US. $47,700 a year.
of the working time. Estimate.
- 16%
- 0%
- 84%
Measured, from Anthropic's usage data (2025). Counts help on part of a task.
On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.
Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
At this date and pace, models finish tasks up to 4.4 h long four times in five.
How far this has come
With GPT-4, measured in March 2023, 0% of this job's working time was within reach at . With Claude 3.7 Sonnet, measured in February 2025, 3%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 16%. Today's estimate: 16%.
A backcast: today's task data with the best model METR had measured by each date. It shows how fast the models have moved, not what anyone forecast at the time.
The tasks
Sorted by . 16 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Organize and assemble routine or specialty surgical instrument trays or other sterilized supplies, filling special requests as needed.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 13% | 25 min13 min to 50 min | Stays with people | |
| Disinfect and sterilize equipment, such as respirators, hospital beds, or oxygen or dialysis equipment, using sterilizers, aerators, or washers.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 12% | 38 min17 min to 1.4 h | Stays with people | |
| Operate and maintain steam autoclaves, keeping records of loads completed, items in loads, and maintenance procedures performed.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 12% | 25 min13 min to 1.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Clean instruments to prepare them for sterilization.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 10% | 21 min8 min to 50 min | Stays with people | |
| Install and set up medical equipment, using hand tools.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 7% | 50 min25 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Examine equipment to detect leaks, worn or loose parts, or other indications of disrepair.Done daily by most who do it. | 7% | 17 min8 min to 33 min | Stays with people | |
| Maintain records of inventory or equipment usage and order medical instruments or supplies when inventory is low.Done daily by most who do it. | 7% | 25 min13 min to 1.1 h | 100%Half by now | |
| Start equipment and observe gauges and equipment operation to detect malfunctions and to ensure equipment is operating to prescribed standards.Done daily by most who do it. | 6% | 17 min8 min to 33 min | Stays with people | |
| Purge wastes from equipment by connecting equipment to water sources and flushing water through systems.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 6% | 21 min8 min to 50 min | Stays with people | |
| Attend hospital in-service programs related to areas of work specialization.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 5% | 50 min25 min to 2.1 h | 98%Half by now | |
| Deliver equipment to specified hospital locations or to patients' residences.Done daily by most who do it. | 4% | 25 min8 min to 50 min | Stays with people | |
| Stock crash carts or other medical supplies.Done daily by most who do it. | 3% | 25 min13 min to 1.1 h | Stays with people |
Within reach, per task: the share of the task's time whose instances are short enough for a model to finish at the chosen date, pace and reliability. Half by: the date half of that time comes within reach.
Jobs that share skills with this one
From O*NET's related occupations. Within reach now and by the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
- Surgical Technologists3% now, 3% by 2028
- Medical and Clinical Laboratory Technicians13% now, 13% by 2028
- Endoscopy Technicians5% now, 7% by 2028
- Medical and Clinical Laboratory Technologists17% now, 36% by 2028
- Cardiovascular Technologists and Technicians18% now, 18% by 2028
- Surgical Assistants0% now, 0% by 2028
Where this job works
The industry groups that employ the most of it (BLS, May 2025).
Where the most of these jobs are
The metro areas with the most people in it (BLS, May 2025).