About Us
CA-SA of AST
The California State Assembly of AST (CA-SA of AST) is a distinct and independent organization that support the philosophy and policies of AST. It maintains its own individual identity as an AST State Assembly, duly incorporated with active corporate status in the state of California.
We are big as it can be.
Welcome to the beautiful state of California where the beach, the desert, and the mountains are just hours away. No wonder a lot of people ventured out to the sunshine state and for those that are already here, stayed to live the California dream. Currently, there is around 9300 and growing hard-working and dedicated surgical technologist (Certified and Non-certified) all throughout the state from San Diego in the south to Humboldt County in the north.
Our noble beginnings
The role of the surgical technologist began on the battlefield of WW I and WW II when the United States Army used "Medics" to work under the direct supervision of the military surgeon. They are not doctors, their training is measured in weeks instead of years, but it is their job to be in the center of the battlefield taking care of the wounded while under fire. Concurrently, medical "corpsman" was used in the US Navy aboard combat ships since nurses were not allowed on the battlefield at that time, which emanate the formation of the operating room technicians (ORT) position.
How we came about
After the war, the shortage of operating room nurses leads to the recruitment of ex-medic and ex-corpsman to work in civilian hospitals. They functioned as circulators while the scrub or the "instrument nurse" role was performed by the nurse, this was later reversed.
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In 1968 AORN created the Association of Operating Room Technician (AORT) and the first certification exam was given in 1971, awarding the title Certified Operating Room Technician (CORT).
Shortly thereafter, AORT becomes independent of AORN and changes its name to Association of Surgical Technologist (AST) and changes its position title from ORT to Surgical Technologist (ST) and Certified Surgical Technologist or CST for those who were certified.
Our goals
CA-SA of AST was formed to better serve the membership of AST in the state of California.
CA-SA of AST is an extension of the professional organization for surgical technologist on the state level.
CA-SA of AST provides its members, the surgical technologist with a local resource to obtain further education, networking, and legislative issues that regard your home state.
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STATE ASSEMBLY BYLAWS ARTICLE II:
Purposes Section 1 - The purposes of the State Assembly are the following:
A. To study, discuss, and exchange professional knowledge, expertise, and ideas in the field of surgical technology.
B. To promote a high standard of surgical technology performance for quality patient care.
C. To stimulate interest in continuing education for surgical technologists.
D. To encourage employment of certified surgical technologists through cooperative efforts with other professional healthcare organizations and individuals.
E. To promote and maintain communication and cooperative relationships with other professional healthcare organizations.
F. To explore and encourage the diversified roles of the certified surgical technologist, hereinafter referred to as the "CST."
AST Mission Statement: Enhancing the profession to ensure quality patient care.
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