Anesthesiologist Assistants

What if you went to the dentist to have a decayed tooth pulled, and found him removing it from your mouth without putting you under anesthesia first? You could ask your parents afterward just how loudly you screamed from the pain. But did you know that in the past, foot or arm amputations were performed without any kind of anesthesia at all? Anesthetic substances were first used in surgery in the mid-eighteenth century, starting with "ether" gas to put patients to sleep, followed later by chloroform and cocaine as anesthetic agents. The field of anesthetic drugs has developed enormously over the past two centuries, and anesthesiology has become a subject taught in medical schools. Today, the anesthesiologist is responsible for every anesthesia procedure inside the operating room, assisted by a team of specialists called "anesthesiologist assistants." No medical procedure can take place without them — they're the ones who care for patients before, during, and after anesthesia. They're also trained in certain life-saving measures, like CPR, so they can handle any complications or effects that might arise in the patient after anesthesia.

Meet the Writer: Waleed Abo Omiraa