01September2005

Anaesthetists have had enough of not being recognised. They want their patients to see more of them and their personality. The whole anaesthetist. For most of us who have had all but brief encounters with anaesthetists the most we get to see is someone standing alongside the operating table. Green/blue gowned depending on the mood head and hair swathed in a surgical bonnet. Hands rubber gloved. And the face hidden behind the surgical mask. All you get to see is in Gilbert & Sullivan terms “a pair of sparkling eyes” before you’re are carried off into that drug induced pre-operative sleep which can produce anything from dancing leprechauns, smiling crocodiles to skydiving without a parachute. Now these people who have these great skills whereby they are able to put us blissfully to sleep which in turn produces great colourful experiences want to shed their masks. They want to come out and be recognised for what and who they are.

How many doctor TV dramas have you seen where the one dealing with the anaesthetics gets the staring role? None. They are the guys all gowned and masked up, well in the background. Basically all you get to see is their backs as they watch the blip blip blips on a screen. Centre stage the camera zooms in on the furrowed brow of the surgeon as deftly with his elegant hands sutures a pumping palpitating heart. And standing by gaggles of attractive nurses swoon at his skills. And when the job is done and the patient comes to, the anaesthetist is long gone. Turned off his blipping screen, put away his tubes and gone. Unheralded. Unrecognised. Unknown. Well that is all about to change. The anaesthetists are having a conference in Nelson this month. They want to develop a higher profile. They want patients to know what their role is in the scheme of things. They think that getting off the masks could help. The only reason masks are worn is to stop bugs. But research has shown masks could be quite ineffective at bug stopping. I am inclined to agree. Imagine on your next trip to the operating theatre you saw this tall handsome dark eyed mustachioed giant of a man, not all that dissimilar to Clark Gable standing at the head of the operating table in his velvet smoking jacket nonchalantly twirling the syringe he is shortly going to plunge into one of your veins. “Hello I’m Rhett your anaesthetist”. His smile reveals a perfect set of teeth, whiter than any white you have ever seen. You’d never have seen them behind a mask. “After you have looked at me for a few minutes I am going to put you to sleep. But I want you to remember me. Because if I wasn’t here doing the job I am going to do, things could be quite painful for you”. He smiles again. Slowly counting angels you begin to fall into that pre-operative slumber. One of your last memories is those sparkling teeth. Reminds you to get a new toothbrush if you come out of this.

Well I am all for it. Unmask the anaesthetists. Lets see the glory of their visage. Just imagine going to their conference in Nelson. A conference where the success of the key note speakers is usually judged not only by how quickly they can send their audience off to sleep but how long they can keep them in that state. At the Nelson conference they are going to debate the theme “Give me one good reason why I should wear a mask”. Some will argue “well Zorro, Batman and the Lone Ranger all wore masks and it didn’t seem to do their public profile any harm” Maybe but mask wearing didn’t help Ned Kelly. Look out for “The Unmasked Anaethetist” coming soon to an operating theatre near you.