SS15 - Manage that Anesthetic Emergency that Could Happen at Any Time

By their nature, anesthetic emergencies are difficult, if not impossible, to predict. Thus, the anesthesia team must have preventive measures in place and established procedures and protocols for managing any and all emergencies that may occur. The keys to the team’s success are well-designed checklists, effective cognitive aids and regularly conducted emergency simulation training. This session will utilize closed-claim examples in each of these categories to emphasize the various organizational tools and training concepts that a team can use to make sure it is prepared. Emphasis will be placed on the effective use of digital technology to enhance the rapidity and precision with which emergency efforts are mobilized. The discussion will be extended to the prevention and management of pediatric emergencies, which require special diligence and rapidity of the response. When anesthetic catastrophes do occur, the legal ramifications can be devastating. The best defense is setting up an easy-to-follow, yet comprehensive, emergency preparedness plan. This program is accompanied by extensive downloadable handouts that will enable a team to set up a plan in a practice that could save a patient’s life, the practice and even a license.