Those of you who are following this weblog directly may have noticed that there has been no entry since April 24 (nearly nine weeks). The reason for this hiatus has been my involvement in a number of risk reduction initiatives at my institution that have occupied most of my available non patient care time. These are some of the issues that I and several associates have been considering 1) How to get improved information to the bedside when an anesthesia team is called for airway management in a deteriorating patient. 2) Organizing an approach to quickly get surgeons to the bedside who can create a surgical airway when supraglottic approaches have failed and ventilation is not possible or very difficult. 3) Are there safe, readily available and fast techniques that will allow an anesthesiologist to provide a route for tracheal oxygenation until secure surgical access can be obtained? The need for these types of initiatives may depend on an institution’s patient population and size. Regardless, they are worth thinking about; they are a step beyond the American Society of Anesthesiology Difficulty Airway Guidelines.
This blog was begun nearly two years ago (the first entry was July 25, 2007). There are now 149 entries. The readership is not high; about 50 - 60 page views per day, though on some days we have been over 100. There on google searches in which a entry from this blog will show up on the first or second page.
The focus has been and will continue to be on patient safety, particularly as it relates to our actvities at the University of Pennsylvania.
David S. Smith, M.D., Ph.D.
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