Thread by @AliciaTDennis

MYTH BUSTER: #anaesthesia & #anaesthetists are hard words to say (I’m one & have trouble!) & people are sometimes confused about what we do (even other doctors!) and that’s fair enough, but we are way more than just people who “put you to sleep” for your surgery #covid19aus 1/

It’s better to think of us as #anesthesiologists (with an american accent!) like they say in the US. We are medical specialists. We have a medical degrees & a specialist qualification, are highly trained having done continuous training until we are often at least 30 years old 2/

We assess all aspects of you before giving you an anaesthetic - Such as your health conditions, your medication, your worries/concerns about what about to happen to you, your pain requirements, & make decisions about the safest anaesthetic to give you for your surgery 3/

Main types of anaesthetic are
➡️general-The big one-where you are “fully asleep”
➡️sedation-The twilight one-where you are “partially asleep” meaning if I firmly tapped you on the shoulder you would wake up
➡️regional-like Spinal, Epidural
➡️local
4/

+ there can be combinations of these for different types of surgery & at different times of your surgery
The anesthesiologist monitors everything during your surgery- all monitors connected to you, everything that is happening in the “OR”, & your surgeon & the operation
5/

We give you drugs & gases & fluids to keep you safe & protect all your organs during your operation
We make the decision to give you a blood transfusion if you need it
For the big one - the general (GA) we often put you on a #ventilator
6/

Many anesthesiologists specialise in a particular area or have extra qualifications such as
➡️pain medicine
➡️intensive care
+ teaching, research, leadership positions and expertise 7/

We are also experts in #resuscitation
We are often team leaders in situations where a person is in a life-threatening situation such as very bad bleeding or injury, organ failure, cardiac arrest
Our training focusses on safety and we are advocates for safety in hospitals 8/

In the #COVID19aus pandemic we will be one of the groups of doctors who put sick people “on the ventilator” (see previous myth buster) & help care for very sick people with #COVID19
9/

We will also be the doctors who continue to help all the patients who need to have emergency/essential surgery & pain relief, not related to COVID19 during the #COVID19 time such as
➡️#caesarean section surgery
➡️#epidurals for labour (only anesthesiologists can do these)
10/

One thing you may not know is that healthcare people like anesthesiologists are at higher risk of getting COVID19 because we care for very sick people with COVID19
Making sure our hospitals aren’t flooded with patients means that our work can be done more calmly & safely 11/

So please help #anesthesiologists & other doctors, nurses, midwives, #healthcare people, other amazing teams that work in hospitals (like cleaning, kitchen, theatre, technical, laboratory staff)
➡️Stay At Home

Keep Us Safe So That We Can Continue To Keep You Safe

12/ the end🌸