Giving Thanks and Looking Forward
I am writing to you after a very successful CCAS meeting at the Red Rock Resort in Las Vegas in March. I think it was the last time I actually felt warm. Those of us in the more northerly geographic areas are beginning to wonder if spring will ever arrive, and summer is a complete fantasy!! I would like to personally thank Jumbo Williams, Wanda Miller-Hance and Nina Guzzetta for a great programme, and I would like to thank all the speakers (the ones who turned up, and the replacements!). The online reviews were generally very positive, and we would welcome emails with suggestions for future speakers and topics. We will continue to try to improve the poster session as it is an important part of the meeting, and the modes of presentation are evolving.
On behalf of the CCAS membership and leadership I would like to offer our condolences to the friends, colleagues and families of victims of catastrophe and terrorism over the last few weeks. It seems to be a very bleak time in Texas, in Bangladesh and in various war zones, and in Boston. We spend a great deal of time, effort and energy in preserving and improving the lives of children both individually and collectively, so it is difficult to reconcile such loss on a seemingly random or positively malevolent basis. It is gratifying to know that so many people step up to help and to give support.
I was introduced recently to the concept of “Uncertainty Theory” which has to do with communication, and also with personality traits and behaviour. (And anyone who knows me will instantly realise that this cannot possibly have anything to do with Heisenberg and quantum physics!) I would submit that most anaesthesiologists do not really enjoy uncertainty, and are uncomfortable with it. The nature of our practice is to anticipate as many possible events as we can, particularly adverse ones, and to make plans to deal with them. Heart transplantation is an area of pediatric cardiac anesthesia with more than its share of uncertainty and discomfort. One of our surgeons is fond of rules, and one of his “rules” is that transplantation ALWAYS traverses midnight, which is a reason for discomfort in and of itself. Our thanks go to Courtney Hardy for organising contributions on the subject of heart transplant for this newsletter.
I would like to wish everyone a good summer, and look forward to the ESPA meeting in Geneva, and the ASA in San Francisco in the fall. I would encourage members to contribute any relevant articles as a first choice to Anesthesia and Analgesia as our official journal.
