April 1997
Volume 61 |
Number 4
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| Apgar Stamp Available
Again |
Selma Harrison Calmes, M.D.
The stamp honoring anesthesiologist Virginia Apgar, M.D. (1909-1974)
is available again from the U.S. Postal Service.
Two-hundred million of these stamps were recently reprinted and
made available earlier this year. The 20-cent stamp was first
released in October 1994 to honor Dr. Apgar, who is best known
for developing the "Apgar Score" to evaluate the newborn
infant's transition to extrauterine life.
The stamp is a definitive, not a commemorative issue, so it will
continue to be available. The stamp can be ordered by calling
the U.S. Postal Service's toll free number (800-STAMP24) and asking
for item 1018. Delivery is usually within five days.
ASA Publishes 1997 Manual for Anesthesia
Department Organization and Management
J. Kent Garman, M.D., Chair
Committee on Quality Improvement and Practice Management
The 1997 Manual for Anesthesia Department Organization and
Management is now available from the ASA Executive Office.
This comprehensive manual is a compendium of all the important
materials needed to run an anesthesia department successfully.
It contains excerpts from recent publications of the Joint Commission
on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations and the Accreditation
Association for Ambulatory Health Care (AAAHC).
Reprinted with permission from the Joint Commission is a crosswalk
that connects the contents of the Surgical and Anesthesia Services
section of the 1993 Accreditation Manual for Hospitals
(AMH) to corresponding language in the current AMH. Also included
is the Surgical Anesthesia section from the Joint Commission's
1996 Accreditation Manual for Ambulatory Health Care. In
addition, the Anesthesia Services and Surgical Services sections
of the current AAAHC Accreditation Handbook for Ambulatory
Health Care is included in this department manual.
Other topics in the manual include departmental leadership, a
sample administrative manual, model anesthesia records, informed
consent, equipment standards and maintenance, infection control
in anesthesia practice, ambulatory anesthesia management, delineation
of clinical privileges with examples, and quality improvement
and peer review.
The 1997 manual also contains ASA guidelines for department organization
and standards and guidelines for patient care. There also is a
standardized set of definitions of perioperative times and intervals
for data collection purposes. I highly recommend that every anesthesiology
department chief have a current copy close at hand as an essential
reference.
The ASA Manual for Anesthesia Department Organization and
Management is available for $25 per copy, which includes postage
and handling. All publication orders must be prepaid and should
be forwarded to the ASA Publications Department, 520 N. Northwest
Highway, Park Ridge, IL 60068-2573.
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