Dr Jane McDonald first started travelling to remote areas of the Northern Territory in 2008. With particular expertise in paediatric anaesthesia and a motivation to help make healthcare more accessible to children in remote areas, her goal was to help the indigenous community to ‘close the gap’ in their overall health.

“It is rewarding to provide care that improves a patient’s overall health and well being,” Jane says. “Particularly when you know that they never would have received that care if you hadn’t made the effort to travel there to provide it.”

The Tongan Ministry of Health is soon to obtain five pulse oximeters which were kindly donated by the ASA through the Lifebox project. Tonga is a Pacific nation with a proud cultural history that is unfortunately still grappling with many of the sorts of issues that plague economically developing countries. One of these issues is the establishment and maintenance of a quality healthcare system to deliver a high standard health care service to its people.

Underlying this problem is the obvious lack of funds and resources needed to train healthcare workers and keep them working in Tonga, as well as funds to buy medicines and equipment.

Generally speaking, doctors are often reluctant to disclose medical errors to patients for fear of increased liability which may result in litigation. To encourage doctors to report errors many countries including Australia have enacted “protection of apology” laws. In theory, these laws deter patients from filing medical malpractice lawsuits and assist with diminishing a doctor’s reluctance to disclose errors to patients.

However, in Australia apology laws were not created specifically to address open disclosure and their effectiveness in the medico-legal environment is perhaps questionable.

The ASA is interested in the activities of its members, especially those who volunteer their time and skills to assist those in need. In recognition of these volunteers, we’re dedicating the April edition of the ASA news to ‘world anaesthesia’ and shining the spotlight on those members who volunteer.

One such member who has been actively volunteering for the Sydney-based charity Operation Restore Hope is Dr Ian Woodforth, NSW Committee Chair. Operation Restore Hope runs trips to the Philippines to assist with cleft lip and palate operations. We hope you enjoy this exert from Dr Woodforth on the good work being done by Operation Restore Hope in the Philippines...

58 countries have established anaesthesia-monitoring standards, and all include pulse oximetry as a minimum requirement.

The availability of good quality pulse oximeters—devices that monitor the level of oxygenation in a patient’s blood and alert the physician if oxygen concentrations drop below safe levels, allowing rapid intervention, is generally taken for granted in Australian hospitals. But how would you cope without one?

In this week’s blog, the ASA explores the life of a trainee, at The Canberra Hospital, through the use of pictures.

Well, we all at the ASA hope you’ll be mesmerised by the NSC 2011.

Mesmerised, according to the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), now means to fascinate or hold spellbound. At least some of the time at the NSC we know you will be.

The word is an eponym, like biro and sandwich and macadam; they reflect the name of the inventor and originator. No doubt you can think of many more – what is the word of a group of eponyms? There’s a flight of swans, maybe a colloquium of academics and a what of anaesthetists?

From 20 to 25 June 2011, a group of Australian anaesthetists participated in the 10^th annual Mongolian Society of Anaesthetists (MSA) – ASA joint seminar.

My first day was at Makassed, the referral teaching hospital located on the Mount of Olives overlooking the Old City of Jerusalem. As I walked from the hostel located in the shady grounds of the Augusta Victoria Lutheran Church, I found myself wondering what could the ‘Visiting Expert’ offer here?

Ontario, 24-28 June 2011

I was very fortunate to be the recipient of funding assistance to attend the CAS Annual Meeting as a representative of GASACT. The experience was fantastic. It gave me insights into another style of training, and an appreciation for the quality of our training here in Australia. Next year’s meeting will be in Quebec City, so trainees – don’t forget to apply!

Some of the surprising Anaesthesia-related things I learnt during my time in Canada...