Anaesthetists’ conference opens in Owerri

By Chidiebere Iwuoha
Owerri

The 23rd Nigerian Society of Anaesthetists Scientific Conference and Annual General Meeting has opened in Owerri, the Imo state capital.
The four-day programme expected to round off this weekend has as its theme: “The Role of Anaesthetist in Disaster Management, while its sub-themes are: Anaesthesia for Minimal Access Surgery; Reduction in Maternal and Child Mortality Beyond 2015, A New Mandate.”

Speaking with newsmen, the National President of Nigerian Society of Anaesthetists, Dr Bisola Onajin-Obembe, who simply described their profession as “the area where we make people sleep before they are operated upon and wake them up afterwards,” said the Owerri Conference was on management of disasters like bomb blasts affecting victims which frequently occurred in the country as a result of insurgency or activities of Boko Haram.
“We don’t pray to have such a thing but we have to get prepared before it happens, so that victims of such disasters will be taken care of as drugs are administered on them.”

Commenting on check against quacks in the profession as is usually done in other fields, Obembe, the President of Africa Regional Section (ARS) of the Federation of Anaesthetists, said they made sure that all doctors were registered with the Nigerian Medical and Dental Council and also registered with their specialised area of practice which is anaesthesia. She also disclosed that their network of physicians had the responsibility of finding out fake suspects and dealing with them accordingly.

On the administration of fake drugs on victims, the secretary-general of the society, Prof. Elizabeth Ogboli-Nwasor, said they applied caution when administering drugs on disaster victims because of the possibility of negative response from victims.
“Once we discover that a victim is responding in a bad way, we report to our pharmacy and all the details looked into. We also work with NAFDAC and if there is a problem we ask for withdrawal. Honestly, that is a problem all over the world.”
The secretary-general, who made it clear that Anaesthetists had the responsibility of having intensive care of patients or their critical cases, disclosed that the reason decided to bring the 2015 Conference to Owerri was for people to know that they had experienced people in the field.
A Guest Lecturer, Prof. Christie N. Mato, who is also the Provost, College of Health Sciences, University of Port Harcourt, said the theme of the conference was apt, as it concerned the re-occurring disaster condition in the country today.
The consultant anaesthetist listed planning, preparedness, recovery, and mitigation as some of the aspects of disaster management, adding that the nation’s politicians should not allow political issues to affect disaster management.