AI exposure by occupation, O*NET 31-9093.00

Will AI replace Medical Equipment Preparers?

Medical Equipment Preparers: AI does not yet handle any of the role's 15 tasks; the work mostly needs a standard-tier model.

Have a team in this role?

Get your free 10-role sample: send this role and up to nine others, and a founder sends a board-pack PDF within two business days.

Get your free 10-role sample Book a 15-minute call

Every task, scored

The 15 tasks O*NET 30.3 lists for Medical Equipment Preparers, from most to least exposed. None reaches 60, the level at which AI already handles a task.

Task AI exposure Evidence Model tier Importance
Clean instruments to prepare them for sterilization. 55 Estimated Efficient 4.8
Record sterilizer test results. 55 Estimated Efficient 4.8
Report defective equipment to appropriate supervisors or staff. 55 Estimated Standard 4.7
Disinfect and sterilize equipment, such as respirators, hospital beds, or oxygen or dialysis equipment, using sterilizers, aerators, or washers. 55 Estimated Efficient 4.6
Stock crash carts or other medical supplies. 55 Estimated Efficient 4.5
Check sterile supplies to ensure that they are not outdated. 55 Estimated Frontier 4.5
Purge wastes from equipment by connecting equipment to water sources and flushing water through systems. 55 Estimated Efficient 4.5
Deliver equipment to specified hospital locations or to patients' residences. 55 Estimated Efficient 4.3
Attend hospital in-service programs related to areas of work specialization. 55 Estimated Standard 3.8
Assist hospital staff with patient care duties, such as providing transportation or setting up traction. 55 Estimated Efficient 3.3
Operate and maintain steam autoclaves, keeping records of loads completed, items in loads, and maintenance procedures performed. 20 Estimated Efficient 4.8
Examine equipment to detect leaks, worn or loose parts, or other indications of disrepair. 20 Estimated Efficient 4.7
Maintain records of inventory or equipment usage and order medical instruments or supplies when inventory is low. 20 Estimated Standard 4.5
Organize and assemble routine or specialty surgical instrument trays or other sterilized supplies, filling special requests as needed. 15 Estimated No tier 4.8
Start equipment and observe gauges and equipment operation to detect malfunctions and to ensure equipment is operating to prescribed standards. 10 Estimated No tier 4.5

Observed: scored from AI use recorded in the Anthropic Economic Index (June 2026 release), 0 of 15 tasks. Estimated: scored from the task's O*NET 30.3 work activity, 15 of 15. Importance is O*NET's 1 to 5 rating of how central the task is. Model tier is the lowest tier that can do the task under the published rubric; "No tier" marks hands-on work.

The model tier this role needs

A standard-tier model or lower covers 80% of the role's importance-weighted task work. 86% of the work is something AI can address at some tier, and 14% is hands-on.

Efficient, standard and frontier tiers come from the JobRoute model tier reference. The recommended tier is the lowest one that covers 80% of the work AI can address. How the method works.

Wages, employment and outlook

US employment
77,420
Median annual wage
$47,700
Middle half of earners
$39,800 to $58,570
Projected change, 2024 to 2034
+10.0%

Employment and wages: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, national. Projection: BLS Employment Projections 2024 to 2034.

Adjacent roles

The occupations that reuse the most of this role's skills, with the usual time to move. These are the first places to look when you plan to redeploy or retrain people in this role.

Skill overlap and transition time from the JobRoute role adjacency graph on O*NET 30.3 skills.

Questions about Medical Equipment Preparers and AI

Will AI replace Medical Equipment Preparers?

Not on current evidence. None of the 15 tasks O*NET lists for this occupation reaches a task exposure of 60, the level at which JobRoute counts a task as handled by AI, and the role's importance-weighted exposure is 42 out of 100. JobRoute scores tasks, not whole jobs, so the score shows how much of the work changes rather than whether the job disappears.

What is the AI exposure of Medical Equipment Preparers?

42 out of 100 on JobRoute's task exposure measure, the importance-weighted average of the role's O*NET task scores. Higher means more of the work is AI-doable today. 0 of the 15 task scores are observed in the Anthropic Economic Index (June 2026 release), and the other 15 are estimated from each task's O*NET work activity.

Which Medical Equipment Preparers tasks can AI already do?

None reaches 60 yet. The most exposed task is: Clean instruments to prepare them for sterilization, at 55 out of 100.

What AI model tier does this role need?

A standard-tier model or lower covers 80% of the role's importance-weighted task work. JobRoute assigns each task the lowest tier that can do it under a published rubric and recommends the lowest tier that covers 80% of the work AI can address.

How many people work as Medical Equipment Preparers, and what do they earn?

77,420 people in the United States, with a median annual wage of $47,700 (BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025). BLS Employment Projections expect a change of +10.0% from 2024 to 2034.

How to cite

Data version 2026-11-02, JobRoute method v1.0.0. Download all occupations or this occupation as JSON. Methodology.

JobRoute (2026). AI exposure: Medical Equipment Preparers. Data version 2026-11-02, method v1.0.0. Built on O*NET 30.3, BLS OEWS May 2025 and the Anthropic Economic Index (June 2026). CC BY 4.0. https://www.jobroute.ai/jobs/medical-equipment-preparers

Have a team in this role?

Get your free 10-role sample. Send this role and up to nine others, with no employee data, and a founder sends a PDF in board-pack format within two business days.

Get your free 10-role sample Book a 15-minute call

A founder replies within one business day.