Anaesthesia and intensive care
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Anaesth Intensive Care · Mar 2018
Historical ArticleUnusual partnerships: The Corfe-McMurdie anaesthetic inhaler of 1918 and the 2nd Australian Casualty Clearing Station.
This World War 1 ether/chloroform vaporiser-inhaler was designed by and made for Captain Anstruther John Corfe by Private Eric Aspinall McMurdie, both of the 2nd Australian Casualty Clearing Station (ACCS), Australian Army Medical Corps (AAMC). It has a plaque attached labelled 25 May 1918. ⋯ These included Horlick's Malted Milk bottles, on which he etched measurements for ether and chloroform, and a spent brass artillery shell, which made the heating component of the inhaler. The 2nd ACCS triaged and operated on thousands of troops, and this inhaler is a reflection of the skills and innovative expertise of the staff of the 2nd ACCS which included X-rays to localise foreign bodies, and locally made splints and apparatus to treat trench foot.
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Anaesth Intensive Care · Mar 2018
Biography Historical ArticleOrigin of the word 'anesthesiology': Mathias J. Seifert, MD.
The word 'anesthesiology' was coined in 1902 by Mathias J. Seifert, MD, of Chicago, Illinois. ⋯ After graduation in 1901 he held academic positions in medicine and gynaecology before being appointed Professor of Physical Diagnosis and Anesthesiology at the College of Dentistry, University of Illinois. He was later appointed Professor of Surgery at the Chicago Hospital College of Medicine.
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Anaesth Intensive Care · Mar 2018
Biography Historical ArticleProfessor Ross Holland: The Special Committee Investigating Deaths Under Anaesthesia (SCIDUA) and his other contributions to anaesthesia.
As a young anaesthetic trainee in 1959 Ross Holland persuaded the Minister of Health in NSW, Australia, to establish SCIDUA, which by law required compulsory reporting for all deaths occurring during anaesthesia or up to 24 hours after cessation of the anaesthetic. The committee was multidisciplinary and, most importantly, had statutory privilege so that no discussions or findings were able to be subpoenaed for other legal investigations or case law. Holland was the foundation secretary of SCIDUA and later Chair. ⋯ He also served an important term as Dean of the Faculty of Anaesthetists, Royal Australasian College of Surgeons prior to that Faculty becoming independent as the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists (ANZCA). Professor Holland received many accolades for these activities during his life, which are noted. It is fitting to recognise his seminal contributions to patient safety over more than 50 years.
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Anaesth Intensive Care · Mar 2018
Should ongoing airway education be a mandatory component of continuing professional development for College of Intensive Care Medicine Fellows?
This study aimed to determine whether airway education should be introduced to the continuing professional development (CPD) program for College of Intensive Care Medicine (CICM) Fellows. A random representative sample of 11 tertiary intensive care units (ICUs) was chosen from the list of 56 units accredited for 12 or 24 months of CICM training. All specialist intensive care Fellows (n=140) currently practising at the eleven ICUs were sent the questionnaire via email. ⋯ All results were tabled. There is currently widespread support amongst CICM Fellows for airway skills education as a CPD requirement for CICM Fellows. Volumes of practice and confidence levels with different airway procedures vary amongst Fellows and further support the need for education.
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Anaesth Intensive Care · Mar 2018
The effect of a multifaceted postoperative nausea and vomiting reduction strategy on prophylaxis administration amongst higher-risk adult surgical patients.
Postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) is a common and distressing problem for patients and increases the burden of care in post-anaesthesia care units (PACU). As such it has been a recent focus for quality improvement. Evidence-based guidelines have demonstrated the benefit of PONV risk stratification and prophylaxis, but may be underutilised in clinical practice. ⋯ In the high-risk PONV group, the time in PACU was significantly reduced post-intervention, 66 minutes versus 83 minutes (P=0.032). This institution-specific PONV reduction strategy had a modest but significant effect on improving prophylaxis administration. However, our findings indicate that further efforts would be required to ensure fuller compliance with the current extensive evidence base for PONV management in higher-risk patients.