GREEN BAY, Wis. —  Blair Bannister is busy setting up a central patient monitoring system for a quartet of donated monitors.

It’s training for what will soon be her job as a biomedical technician.

“There are a lot of times where stuff is alarming or not working correctly and I am the one who gets called to troubleshoot those errors,” she said.

She’s finishing up her education at Northeast Wisconsin Technical College in Green Bay for a behind-the-scenes job keeping high-tech medical equipment running.

“You go home with a sense of pride knowing that you made sure something was safe for patients and it can possibly assist in a positive outcome,” Bannister said.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects a need for about 6,000 people a year nationwide for these jobs.

NWTC launched its program about five years ago to help fill the need for biomedical technicians in Northeastern Wisconsin.

“The hospitals seemed to be recruiting employees from one organization to another. That would leave one organization short so they’d be out trying to recruit somebody,” said Don Cormier, a NWTC Instructor. “It was just round and round. Robbing Peter to pay Paul scenario.”

Retirements are among the factors diving the need.

“There’s a demand. I get about two or three calls a week from people looking for technicians someplace,” Cormier said.

Bannister, who graduates in May, already has interest from employers looking for people with her skills.

“It’s kind of endless,” she said.