I’m not saying they don’t deserve it, obviously I know they have our lives between their hands. To my knowledge, they base their calculations around our weights and heights. What else makes it so difficult?
In: Biology
No, it’s not just height and weight. That’s the absolute basic. Some other things an anaesthetist (UK term) has to know include:
– How the machines they’re using work. When I helped an ex go through some of their exams they had to have circuits memorised.
– A huge range of drug interactions. Any medicine you’re taking (prescription, over the counter, or illegal) can interact with the anaesthetic drugs. If the anaesthetic is disrupted bad things can happen including death.
– Other chemicals or hormones that might impact the anaesthetic.
– What to do if a patient has an allergic reaction.
– How to maintain an anaesthetic. Some surgeries go on for hours so the patient has to remain under enough not to feel anything but not so much they overdosed. Anaesthetists have to be able monitor throughout and adjust accordingly.
It all adds up to is a huge amount of risk that they have to assess, sometimes very quickly. If they get it wrong it’s very possible a patient dies on the table. That’s why they get paid so much.
Latest Answers