ANOTHER STEP FORWARD
The ASA and AANA held their second joint meeting on March
22 - 23 in Chicago. The positive and constructive atmosphere
of the first meeting continued. As a result of the commitment
to address issues of mutual interest, the following work
was completed.
A topic of discussion was the issue of patient awareness
under anesthesia. We agreed to jointly address the awareness
issue through the following plan.
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A letter will be sent to JCAHO over
the signature of the ASA and AANA presidents opposing
the establishment of a Standard for Brain Function Monitoring
under General Anesthesia.
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A joint public relations brochure regarding
awareness will be developed.
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A joint statement addressing the issue
will be posted on the ASA and AANA websites for both
members and the public.
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The focus of these activities will be
to allay patient fears, to affirm our joint commitment
to reducing the incidence of awareness and to affirm
the need for practice standards to be evidence-based.
We also agreed to a strategy of including
future leaders and staff in this process to assure continuity
and success. Future meeting dates were confirmed.
We will be meeting again in April to continue
to discuss issues of mutual interest and concern.
Roger W. Litwiller, MD, President ASA
Tom L. McKibban, CRNA, MS, President AANA
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