To our readers:

While we mail more than 50,000 copies of this newsletter to those interested in anesthesia patient safety we only have about 3,000 individual memberships in the Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation (APSF).

The Foundation is supported financially solely by memberships and contributions from individuals, corporations and foundations. As you can see from the adjacent APSF distribution of expense chart for 1986, nearly 70 percent of our income went towards research awards for studies on the prevention of anesthesia mishaps. It was disappointing, however, that we were only able to fund four of the many meritorious grant applications because of a lack of money.

Therefore we hope that you find enough value alone in the information contained in our four-times-a-year newsletter to become an individual or corporate member of APSF. Individual memberships are $25 and corporation memberships begin at $500. Several companies have given $25,000 and we have a generous grant from the Parker B. Francis Foundation.

We need your support to carry on our important efforts for the safe use of anesthesia and hope you will become an APSF member by making your tax deductible check payable to the Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation and enclose it in the envelope attached between pages six and seven of this newsletter.

Your financial support makes it possible for the Foundation to continue its work. We thank you.

The Board of Directors

Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation