Southern DHB celebrates National Anaesthesia Day

Media Release
15 October 2014

Southern DHB celebrates National Anaesthesia Day

Anaesthetists across New Zealand are urging smokers scheduled for surgery to “stop before the op” as part of National Anaesthesia Day tomorrow (October 16), organised by the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists.

At Southern DHB Anaesthetists will be in the main foyer of Dunedin Hospital tomorrow with equipment on display and lots of information spreading the word that it’s “never too late to quit” as well as patient information sheets and details of what an Anaesthetist does. There’ll be various pieces of equipment including an anaesthetic machine for the public to look at as well as the opportunity for them to have a go at “ventilating patients” using an intubation practice dummy.

Southern DHB Consultant Anaesthetist, Dr Andrew Smith has organised the celebrations this year and said that,” National Anaesthesia Day is a great way to get the message across about the benefits of stopping smoking before an operation and also to let the public know what an Anaesthetist does.

“We find that many people don’t know what we do and don’t even know that Anaesthetists are specialist doctors.”

As well as the equipment on display and information in the foyer on Thursday, there’s also lots of posters around the hospital about “stop before the op” and “who is your anaesthetist.”

Smoking before an operation - did you know?

• Smoking leads to more complications during and after an operation. It starves the body of oxygen, makes it more difficult to breathe during and after surgery and can lead to blood clots. Smokers also have more trouble recovering.

• ANZCA’s newly released guidelines on smoking state “ANZCA ... recognises that the perioperative period represents a ‘teachable moment’ when many smokers quit or attempt to quit smoking, sometimes permanently” and that it is never too late to quit with every day making a difference.

• After 24 hours, blood pressure improves and more oxygen reaches the heart. After one week, lungs are better at removing mucus, tar and dust. After three to four weeks, the body is better at fighting wound infections.

• Tobacco use is the single greatest preventable cause of death and disease in New Zealand. At least half of all smokers will eventually die as a result of their smoking and 5000 deaths annually in New Zealand are attributable to tobacco.

Anaesthetists – did you know?

• Anaesthetists are specialist doctors with more than 10 years of medical training

• National Anaesthesia Day celebrates one of the greatest discoveries of modern medicine

• Most people will need an Anaesthetist at some stage in their lives such as during the birth of their baby or for a surgical procedure, which could range from relatively short, simple surgery on a day-stay basis through to major surgery requiring complex, rapid decisions to keep them safe.

• Millions of anaesthetics are given each year in Australia and New Zealand.

• Many of today’s operations are made possible as a result of developments in anaesthesia and training of specialist Anaesthetists.

Ends

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