Anaesthesia is not sleep. It’s so much deeper

Anaesthesia is not sleep. It’s so much deeper

Anaesthesia is not sleep. It’s so much deeper. This is the theme for this year’s ANZCA National Anaesthesia Day, which falls tomorrow on Tuesday, October 16. The day is organised by the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists (ANZCA) and marks the first time ether anaesthetic was demonstrated publicly, in Boston, Massachusetts in 1846.

National Anaesthesia Day 2018 challenges the widely held misconception that having a surgery under general anaesthesia is effectively the same as being asleep. You are actually under a carefully monitored state of unconsciousness that is adjusted to your needs. Anaesthesia is one of the greatest discoveries under modern medicine and New Zealand is one of the safest places in the world to have surgery under general anaesthesia.

Hospitals throughout New Zealand are supporting National Anaesthesia Day 2018 with foyer displays and activities aimed at informing patients and their families about anaesthesia.

The public can talk to anaesthetists at interactive displays being held at the following hospitals on Tuesday (October 16): Whangarei, North Shore, Auckland City, Middlemore, Manukau Super Clinic, Palmerston North, Wellington Regional, Hutt City, Nelson and Dunedin.

More information about ANZCA National Anaesthesia Day 2018, including images for download, can be found here.

Television quality video footage is available to accompany news reports/interview on anaesthesia for National Anaesthesia Day.

One of Australia and New Zealand’s largest specialist medical colleges with 6400 specialist anaesthetists (Fellows) and 1500 anaesthetists in training (trainees), ANZCA is responsible for the training, examination and specialist accreditation of anaesthetists and pain medicine specialists, and for the standards of clinical practice in Australia and New Zealand.

It organises ANZCA National Anaesthesia Day annually to raise public understanding of anaesthesia and the work anaesthetists do.

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