Welcome to our inaugural North American Veterinary Anesthesia Society (NAVAS) blog post!

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Here we will be tackling a wide range of topics related to veterinary anesthesia and analgesia. Our intention, like the mission of NAVAS, is to help veterinary professionals advance the practice of anesthesia and analgesia for all animals.

Although just starting out, NAVAS hopes to become the definitive resource for all things related to veterinary anesthesia. In addition to ongoing discussion in this blog, NAVAS members are developing online lectures, interactive discussion boards, and review articles to help those practicing veterinary anesthesia expand their skill set and knowledge base.

Lydia Love DVM, DACVAA and Lindsey Howard RVT, VTS (Anesthesia/Analgesia)

Lydia Love DVM Diplomate American College of Veterinary Anesthesia and Analgesia (DACVAA) myNAVAS.org Blog co-editor

Lindsey Howard Registered Veterinary Technician (RVT) and Veterinary Technician Specialist (VTS) - Anesthesia and Analgesia, myNAVAS.org blog co-editor

will be organizing the blog, and arranging for guest bloggers. Lydia and Lindsey worked together at the University of Tennessee when Lydia was an anesthesia resident and Lindsey was the Lead Anesthesia Technician. Since that time, they have both been employed in private small animal referral practices (Lydia in New Jersey; Lindsey in Kentucky) and Lindsey now works for a veterinary equipment manufacturer focused on perianesthetic care.

We are passionate about providing excellent perianesthetic care to our patients and we also love to think and talk about anesthesia issues, big and small. In the first few months, we will be writing about:

• Mortality in veterinary anesthesia and how to improve outcomes

• The technician’s role in providing high quality anesthesia care

• Addressing hypotension during anesthesia

• Anesthesia Safety Checklists

• Preventive analgesic strategies

Our major goal is get a discussion going about veterinary anesthesia and analgesia! And to that end, we like to leave you with a list of 5 things that you can do today to improve anesthesia care for your patients:

1. Train, educate, and empower technicians: create veterinarian-led anesthesia care teams with informed and knowledgeable nursing staff who can anticipate, avoid, and manage complications 2. Keep a digital or written record of anesthetic events: detailed information about anesthetic events will allow you to review and refine perianesthetic care 3. Treat all patients as individuals: select a perianesthetic approach based on the physiologic status of the patient in front of you and the procedure about to be completed

4. Use checklists adapted to your clinical environment: checklists are simple cognitive aids that delineate a perianesthetic strategy, flatten hierarchy, and improve communication. More about checklists later!! 5. Provide a preventive analgesic strategy: a preventive analgesic plan manages acute pain, reduces analgesic requirements overall, and decreases the likelihood of the development of chronic pain

What do you think?

We want to hear from you!

We want this blog to be about veterinary anesthesia and analgesia topics that you care about.

Let us know:

• What anesthesia and analgesia topics are you interested in?

• What anesthesia and analgesia challenges have you experienced?

• Has your practice had unresolved anesthesia issues or questions?

• Where are the biggest growth opportunities for veterinary anesthesia and analgesia?