Issue PDF
Fatigue & the Practice of Anesthesiology
Steve Howard, MDEveryone has seen it. For example, watching a colleague fall asleep at a meeting or watching an intern struggle to remain alert while holding a surgical retractor. Everyone has felt…
Articles
Performance-Enhancing Drugs Present A Double-Edged Sword
Ralph Lydic, PhDAPSF Newsletter consideration of fatigue as a potential detriment to anesthesia safety. The editorial assignment was to outline arguments against use of performance-enhancing drugs as a counter-measure for excessive physician…
Cure for the Dopey Doc?
Brian E. Smith, MDI was on call last night, and I was lucky. Although I worked moderately hard for 19 hours, the final 5 were spent dozing off and on in a noisy,…
Managing Fatigue 24/7 in Health Care: Opportunities to Improve Safety
Mark R. Rosekind, PhDIf only it were that simple: just tell people to get their 8 hours of sleep and develop perfect work schedules, or invent a “magic bullet” that eliminates fatigue, manages…
Fatigue and Anaesthetists: The Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland’s Approach
Michael E. Ward, MB BS, MRCS LRCP, FRCAThe membership of the Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland (AAGBI) is totally medical, and currently 95% of the anaesthetists in the UK are members. It has in…
ACGME Recognizes Dangers of Fatigue
The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) has recently instituted a requirement for “Sleep Loss and Fatigue Management Training” in teaching specifications for all residency programs. Specifically, it is…
The Costs of Clinician Fatigue and Its Prevention
David M. Gaba, MDIn the course of studying and writing about the problem of fatigue in health care personnel, our group and others have suggested a multitude of possible countermeasures. In this Special…
Report of APSF Workshop on Postoperative Long-Term Outcome
David M. Gaba, MD; Robert C. Morell, MDAnesthesiologists have long been pioneers in seeking ways to improve the safety of patients. To date, most of our efforts have been directed toward reducing the likelihood of adverse events…
American College of Surgeons Collaborates With APSF to Develop Quality Program
R. Scott Jones, MD, FACSThe American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS NSQIP) Surgical operations, in contrast to medical treatments of chronic diseases, lend themselves to observation by outcome studies. Whether…
RAPID Response to questions from readers
Cause of Ventilator Failure is Unclear
Albert R. Davis, MD; Bruce Kleinman, MD; W. Scott Jellish, MD, PhD; Robert ClarkWe would like to report an incident of anesthesia machine failure with possible patient safety implications. After the induction and intubation of an 8-year-old female and during the sterile skin…
Letters to the Editor
Surgeon Should Give Feedback to His Health Care Team First
Elizabeth T. Young, MDTo the Editor I am amazed by the response to the anonymous surgeon/patient’s perioperative experience recounted in the 2004-5 winter issue of the APSF Newsletter. I have been in practice…
Hypoxemia in the Hospital Frequently an Early Sign of Impending Catastrophe
Samuel Metz, MDTo the Editor Dr. Stemp makes an interesting point, albeit with great drama: detection of transient hypoxemia is not nearly as vital to patient outcome as determination of cause. Summarizing…
Do Not Break Contact With the Patient
Terring W. Herionimus III, MD, FACA, FCCPTo the Editor I read with interest, and sadness of course, of the 3 examples of anesthetic accidents in the article “Turn Your Alarms On” in the winter issue of…
PACU Pulse Ox Tone Touted
Heddy-Dale Matthias, MDTo the Editor I’m in total agreement regarding the special need to hear the pulse beep tone for pulse oximetry during anesthesia. Anesthesiologists can testify to the importance of the…
Reader Softens View of OR Reading
Mont Stern, MDTo the Editor I am replying to your article in the APSF Newsletter and offering you my perspective on the issue. I am in total agreement that the image we…
High Airway Pressure Mandates Diagnosis and Remedy
Hariharan Shankar, MDTo the Editor In the Fall 2004 issue of the APSF Newsletter, Dr. Nichols et al. stressed the importance of machine check, especially of the reusable pieces of equipment to…
The Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation Newsletter is the official publication of the nonprofit Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation and is published quarterly at Wilmington, Delaware. Annual member-ship: Individual – $100.00, Corporate – $500.00. This and any additional contributions to the Foundation are tax deductible. © Copyright, Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation, 2005.
The opinions expressed in this Newsletter are not necessarily those of the Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation or its members or board of directors. Validity of opinions presented, drug dosages, accuracy, and completeness of content are not guaranteed by the APSF.
APSF Executive Committee:
Robert K. Stoelting, MD, President; Jeffrey B. Cooper, PhD, Executive Vice President; George A. Schapiro, Executive Vice President; David M. Gaba, MD, Secretary; Casey D. Blitt, MD, Treasurer; Sorin J. Brull, MD, Robert A. Caplan, MD, Nassib G. Chamoun, Robert C. Morell, MD, Michael A. Olympio, MD, Richard C. Prielipp, MD.
Newsletter Editorial Board:
Robert C. Morell, MD, Editor; Sorin J. Brull, MD; Joan Christie, MD; Jan Ehrenwerth, MD; John H. Eichhorn, MD; Regina King; Lorri A. Lee, MD ; Rodney C. Lester, PhD, CRNA; Glenn S. Murphy, MD; Denise O’Brien, BSN, RN; Karen Posner, PhD; Keith Ruskin, MD; Wilson Somerville, PhD; Jeffery Vender, MD.