Welcome Messages
Welcome from P. Allan Klock, Jr., MD
As I start my term as president of the Society of Airway Management, I have reflected on the history and mission of the society. The society was formed in 1995 to affiliate health professionals who have an interest in airway management. Our bylaws state that the purpose of the society is to encourage research, education, and scientific advancement of airway management. Over the past 13 years we have grown into an international, multi-specialty non-profit organization with over 500 members. The American Society of Anesthesiologists is re-branding its members as “physicians who make modern medicine possible.” I think it is worth noting that airway management makes anesthesia, emergency medicine, and many other aspects of modern medical care possible.
This is an exciting year for SAM. We had an excellent meeting in Boston , Massachusetts thanks to the great work of Lorraine Foley, MD. The program for our 2009 meeting in Las Vegas is shaping up nicely. Topics include; airway management outside the operating room, controversies in pediatric airway management, how to establish competency, views on the future of airway management (including likely changes to the American Society of Anesthesiologists Difficult Airway Algorithm), special lectures by experts from the UK and China, and our usual offerings of superb round-table discussions and workshops.
I have set goals for the Society to achieve in the next 1, 2 and 3 years. A problem faced by many anesthesiologists is how best to communicate with a patient after a difficult airway event. One of this year’s goals is to develop a template for a difficult airway letter for the SAM website. The idea is to allow the practitioner to check off which techniques worked and which failed after a difficult airway event. The letter can then be printed in English and the patient’s native language.
Another goal for this year is to increase our membership especially among CRNAs and other affiliated health professionals. Two-year goals include a revision of our website, upgrading our exhibit for the 2009 American Society of Anesthesiologists annual meeting, and increasing our visibility in Asia . One of our three-year goals is to develop a model curriculum for airway management for anesthesia and emergency medicine residencies.
Clearly, we have a challenging agenda for the coming months. If you wish to share your expertise or knowledge by serving on one of our committees, please let me know. The strength and value of SAM comes from communication and cooperation amongst its members. By working together we can fulfill the purpose of the society put forth in 1995.
Sincerely,
P. Allan Klock, Jr., MD
SAM President, 2008-2009
Welcome from Chandy Verghese, MBBS, FRCA
The Society for Airway Management (SAM) is a subspecialty organization established to promote both scientific advances as well as improve the current and future practice of safe airway management with research, education and instruction of airway skills and devices. We have been established for 12 years and our membership continues to increase. SAM encourages and welcomes participation by all medical personnel involved in airway management and our membership reflects this mixture of professionals from various specialties involved in airway care. SAM hosts an annual meeting, has an active website, and a SAM-forum in which members participate in ‘cutting edge’ discussions on the many aspects of safe airway management. An exchange of speakers to the annual meeting of SAM and the Difficult Airway Society, UK (DAS), has been in place over the past 5 years, and forms an important link between these two Societies and a stimulating exchange of ideas and practices. The nominated SAM speaker to DAS, this year is Dr Allan Klock (President-Elect, SAM).
The Society is very fortunate to have members who are eminent specialists in airway management, inventors of current airway devices, and consultants to the ASA Task Force on Difficult Airway Management and Obstructive Sleep Apnea. We also have members from over 34 countries and hope to continue to expand our activities.
Last year, under the stewardship of Professor Carin Hagberg, the Society initiated two annual research grants to investigators performing research on airway related topics. Applications could be made ‘on-line’ at the SAM website. Additionally, SAM will sponsor an international physician from a developing country to attend the annual SAM meeting at no cost, as well as attend an academic institution in the USA or Europe either before or after the annual meeting. The selected candidate will also receive 3 years of free membership.
There has been an ‘explosion’ of supraglottic airway devices, video-laryngoscopes and other devices intended to simplify airway management, simplify tracheal intubation and to overcome the ‘difficult airway’. I hope that with your support all of us, in SAM, will contribute to the assessment of these new devices and formulate a pragmatic approach to their strengths, weaknesses and clinical importance. This would allow us to prioritize our training and research and will be of great benefit to our current and future members of our society.
If you wish to share your expertise or knowledge by serving on one of our many committees, please do let me know. The strength of SAM is with you, and with your help and support I look forward to the next year.
Chandy Verghese MBBS, FRCA
Tel: +44 322 7065 or +44 118 9310234
SAM President 2007-2008
Consultant in Anaesthesia and Intensive Care
Fax: +44 118 975 3075
Department of Anaesthesia
Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust
e-mail: chandy.verghese@virgin.net
Reading, Berkshire RG1 5AN
UK
Welcome from Carin Hagberg, MD
The Society of Airway Management (SAM) is a subspecialty organization whose mission is to promote the scientific advancement and practice of airway management by encouraging research, education, and instruction of airway skills and devices. SAM is an active society and functions as a year-round resource for its members and the medical community in general. It is your continuous support and participation that is making SAM an exciting, growth-oriented organization.
The practice of airway management has seemingly become more complex with time, as evidenced by the introduction of a member of new airway devices. Clinicians involved in airway management have an enormous selection of resources to choose from. The various supraglottic airways have revolutionized surgery and videolaryngoscopy may do the same for both inpatient and outpatient surgery.
SAM offers many resources that promote safe and effective clinical airway management practiced by the various medical specialties involved. The Annual Meeting, the SAM website, the SAM-forum and the Airway Gazette all provide very useful information to clinicians eager to learn more. Members of our society serve as expert consultants to the ASA’s Task Force on Difficult Airway Management and Obstructive Sleep Apnea. Additionally, there are currently two active consensus panels working on forming a consensus opinion on important issues of airway management, including “Extubation of the Difficult Airway” and “Should Bag Mask Ventilation be Performed During the Application of Cricoid Pressure?”
Presently, SAM has grown to include over 400 members from 34 countries. With your continued support, we can accomplish much more in 2007. Thanks for continuing to be an important part of SAM. I am looking forward to another great year! If anyone is interested in becoming more active in SAM, possibly by serving on one of our several committees, I would love to hear from you.
Sincerely,
Carin Hagberg, MD
SAM President 2006-2007
Welcome from Will Rosenblatt, MD
Dear new SAM member:
Welcome to the Society for Airway Management. SAM is an international group of the finest teachers, investigators and clinicians in the arena of airway management and science! We are in our 10th year, and a time of great change and importance for the Society. Though SAM has been known for its extraordinary annual meeting, the Society is moving to be a year-round resource for its members and the medical community in general.
Apart from attending our annual meeting (and enjoying member discounts for lecture and workshop registration) there are other ways you can benefit and participate in SAM:
- Use the SAM website (www.SAMhq.com) as a resource
- Be active in the SAM-Forum, our list-serve, where you can read & post interesting airway challenges and information
- Read the SAM Gazette, our quarterly newsletter. You are also encouraged to submit letters, articles and comments for publication in the Gazette
- Become more involved in the Society: consider serving on one of our many member committees
- Comment on the activities of our SAM Consensus panels, which work year round to produce opinion papers on important airway issues
- Submit abstracts for presentation at the annual meeting
We look forward to your participation, and helping SAM to grow. We trust that you will not only take advantage of SAM resources, but also let us know how we can make them better.
Sincerely,
William Rosenblatt, MD
SAM President 2005-2006
Welcome from D. John Doyle, MD, PhD
Few areas in medicine have advanced as quickly and dramatically in the last few decades as clinical airway management. A mere 3 decades ago tracheal intubation by direct laryngoscopy, blind nasal intubation, and possibly surgical methods were the most one could reasonably expect from a clinician experienced in airway management. Fiberoptic intubation, the laryngeal mask airway (LMA), the Bullard laryngoscope, the GlideScope and even the concept of airway management algorithms were all unavailable in those days. Indeed, a mere 75 years ago, around the time of the Great Depression, airway management during general anesthesia consisted primarily of maintaining spontaneous ventilation with the aid of careful head positioning and the use of oropharyngeal airways, although also available were tongue forceps designed to pull the tongue out of an obstructing position. Endotracheal intubation was rarely performed in those days, and positive-pressure ventilation was an exotic technology still in its early experimental phase. Clinical problem solving for the common airway problems were based almost entirely on ad-hoc methods.
Now clinicians interested in airway management have an enormous selection of resources to choose from. Almost every imaginable form of laryngoscope is available to those with the funds to secure them. The various forms of LMA have practically revolutionized outpatient surgery. Countless books, CD-ROMs, videos and Web pages are available to clinicians eager to learn more.
In this spirit, the Society for Airway Management is eager to be another valuable resource concerned with promoting effective and safe clinical airway management as practiced by the various medical specialties involved. This includes classical topics such as laryngoscopy and intubation, prevention of aspiration, positive pressure ventilation, as well as more recent developments such as supraglottic airway devices, and methods of awake intubation. Emphasis is also placed on understanding the various airway management algorithms for the management of expected and unexpected airway difficulties, such as that developed by the American Society of Anesthesiology.
It is my sincere hope that this Web resource is highly effective in promoting the cause of clinical airway management.
D. John Doyle, MD, PhD
SAM President 2004-2005
