Anesthesiologists
Imagine walking one day into an operating room at a hospital for surgery, and suddenly a group of burly men come toward you, strap you to the bed, clamp their hands over your mouth, and stop you from screaming during the operation the doctor decided to perform without putting you under anesthesia. Unbelievable, isn't it! If you think what the doctor and his assistants did sounds savage and barbaric, you should thank God you were born in the twentieth or twenty-first century, because every surgical operation performed throughout history was carried out exactly this way, and that didn't change until anesthetic drugs were invented in 1846. Procedures like removing a bullet, pulling teeth, or amputating a foot used to be done in 60 seconds at most, and the doctor couldn't perform his work with focus and precision without the patient being strapped to a bed, table, or chair to prevent any reaction, whether screaming or thrashing limbs. Anesthesia means giving the patient specific doses of certain medications and drugs designed to prevent them from feeling pain during a procedure — a person might receive doses that cause complete loss of consciousness, or only the part undergoing surgery might be numbed. Anesthesia is handled only by specialist doctors with broad experience in all anesthesia procedures, doctors called "anesthesiologists," and no operation can be performed without them. Some African and Asian countries that face a shortage of anesthesiologists suffer from higher rates of death following surgical operations, since the anesthesiologist is tasked with caring for the patient before, during, and after the operation, and is responsible for handling any sudden disruptions that occur in the body's organs and systems.
Meet the Writer: Waleed Abo Omiraa
What You'll Actually Do
The core tasks and responsibilities that fill a typical day.
- Administer anesthetic or sedation during medical procedures, using local, intravenous, spinal, or caudal methods.
- Monitor patient before, during, and after anesthesia and counteract adverse reactions or complications.
- Provide and maintain life support and airway management and help prepare patients for emergency surgery.
- Record type and amount of anesthesia and patient condition throughout procedure.
- Examine patient, obtain medical history, and use diagnostic tests to determine risk during surgical, obstetrical, and other medical procedures.
- Position patient on operating table to maximize patient comfort and surgical accessibility.
- Decide when patients have recovered or stabilized enough to be sent to another room or ward or to be sent home following outpatient surgery.
- Coordinate administration of anesthetics with surgeons during operation.
- Confer with other medical professionals to determine type and method of anesthetic or sedation to render patient insensible to pain.
- Coordinate and direct work of nurses, medical technicians, and other health care providers.
- Order laboratory tests, x-rays, and other diagnostic procedures.
- Diagnose illnesses, using examinations, tests, and reports.
- Manage anesthesiological services, coordinating them with other medical activities and formulating plans and procedures.
- Provide medical care and consultation in many settings, prescribing medication and treatment and referring patients for surgery.
- Inform students and staff of types and methods of anesthesia administration, signs of complications, and emergency methods to counteract reactions.
- Instruct individuals and groups on ways to preserve health and prevent disease.