Talk The Talk

I figure it is about time to talk a little about anesthesia and what exactly I do. Anesthesia is the science of pain control for patients undergoing painful procedures. Besides controlling pain response an anesthesia provider also provides, amnesia and analgesia which involves paralysis and inhibiting recall of the events. This is accomplished through a combination of drugs that can be delivered by injection into the muscle, blood stream or the lungs, some are even absorbed through the skin. This is a picture of the anesthesia machine and monitors that I use at the hospital in Soda Springs. This machine has a ventilator on it that can breath for the patient and delivers the gas that helps to maintain an anesthetized state.

This is the medication cart that I use that holds most of the commonly used drugs. Some of these drugs are used to paralyze the patient so that they do not move during surgery. These drugs are based off of a naturally occurring substance called "curare" that the Amazon natives would put on the tips of their arrows to paralyze their prey.

The last two pictures are to show the get-up that you have to wear in the operating room. This traditionally is made up of a goofy hat to make sure your hair stays on your head, a mask (not made to fit those of us with "fuller facial features" very comfortably), and awesome shoe covers.