Maintenance management is a tool that supports Biomedical Engineering staff in the development, control and direction of maintenance programs for medical equipment. Objective: to characterize the maintenance management of biomedical equipment in emergency areas of medical institutions in the metropolitan area of Medellin during 2008-2009. Materials and methods: a survey was conducted with chiefs and maintenance technicians of eleven institutions classified at level 3, belonging to the health network of the municipality of Medellin. Results: among the medical institutions included in the present study, it was found that 80% of equipment failure was related with mishandling of the devices, and 70% of maintenance work developed during the period of study was carried out by qualified Biomedical Technicians/ Technologist. On the other hand, a weakness was observed in programs for medical equipment maintenance of the surveyed institutions, as it was found that most of them had only working PM schedules, and outdated record information of equipment regarding, maintenance, acquisition or decommissioning plans of equipment. Conclusion: the study shows the existence of weaknesses in certain areas of the maintenance, such also poor organization and management, and poor availability of original spare parts.