Most perfusionists would reply with one word: "PerfList."

Since 1995 PerfList has become the modern version of a telephone party line for perfusionists. Or perhaps a more apt description is one of an electronic meeting hall where anyone can pose a question and everyone can hear the answer. And they do pose questions!

A typical day on PerfList is a series of questions about complex issues of perfusion science. Often they are calls for help . . . a case that went bad . . . a new surgeon with left field ideas . . . a difficult upcoming case . . . comparing notes on the performance of equipment and supplies . . . how do you handle this or that. The questions come from practitioners around the globe, and so do the responses. In addition to the daily list of questions, there is also the daily list of comments and replies.

More than any other communications medium, PerfList has become that special place where the tiny world population of perfusionists can interact with their own to get exactly what they need when they need it. On PerfList you don't have to spell "perfusion" or explain what it means. You are, in short, among your colleagues. There are approximately 2,200 subscribers to PerfList, and there is no subscription fee.

PerfList recently moved its operations to AmSECT. After four and a half years at its founder's home in St. Louis, it is now in the AmSECT National office in Herndon, Virginia. This article is about a remarkable woman whose vision and astuteness created the most powerful perfusionist communications system since the profession was formed decades ago. And she did it alone!

Meet Ms. PerfList, otherwise known as Sue Boettcher, CCP!

And now for a trick question. Describe Sue Boettcher. Give up? Most people would. Paradoxically, the person who has made it possible for everyone to meet is largely unknown herself.

For starters, she's a native of California who earned her B.S. degree in Education from Concordia College in Seward, Nebraska. Although she was a school teacher for two years, she had an interest in the medical field and eventually found a job as a dialysis technician. This further stimulated her interest in extracorporeal technology.

After graduating in June, 1982 from perfusion school at North Hennepin Community College in Minneapolis, she landed her first job at Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh the following October. She remained there until accepting a position at St. Louis University late in 1983. Her career there included service as a staff perfusionist and clinical coordinator for the University's perfusion school. On January 1, 1999 she left fulltime employment with the University but continues on there as a PRN.

The beginning of PerfList was totally unplanned and unforeseen. In 1993 Boettcher bought a computer that had America On Line (AOL) installed on it. As she tells the story, "I was hooked in about three hours. It was like I'd fallen down the rabbit hole." The exposure to AOL gave her experience with Internet mailing lists, which in turn led Boettcher to ask this simple question: "Why don't perfusionists use such capabilities as e-mail and newsgroups to connect?"

Out of curiosity she used the AOL capability to view member profiles and search their subscriber list for "perfusionist." She made this search in February, 1995 and it produced approximately 60 names. She then proceeded to contact them and received a reply from almost half. That month PerfList was launched.

At first the subscriber list grew slowly. Eventually, however, it mushroomed to its current high level. Lately, she observed, "more of our subscribers are from foreign countries, which is making PerfList more international in scope." She adds, "About 10% of the subscribers actually ever post a message, while the other 90% 'lurk.'"

Because PerfList is a 24 x 7 operation, she was asked if it didn't become too demanding at times. No, she replied, "If I'm on vacation, for example, I just take my laptop computer along and manage very well; it's never been a problem."

But what about the cost of operating PerfList? Didn't she spend considerable personal resources to operate it? Again, her answer was surprising.

"I operated the list manually for the first couple of years - adding and subtracting names from an address list I used to send out the digests. When keeping up with the subscribe and unsubscribe requests got to be too much, I switched to using free list server software called Macjordomo that ran off my home computer over a dialup connection and took care of all that automatically. So I never really spent any money on PerfList, and it's always surprising to people how little time it took me. Usually only a few minutes a day. What was important was keeping at it, if not daily, at least a few times a week."

Boettcher regards PerfList affectionately as her "baby." But several months ago she concluded the time was appropriate to give it up and move on to other career changes she wanted to make. "Carl Barringer, Chairman of the AmSECT Internet Committee, had been in contact with me, suggesting the idea that AmSECT put its resources behind PerfList." Sue accepted a position on the Internet Committee, and participated in preparing an orderly transition.

Boettcher, members of the Internet Committee (Carl Barringer, Jeff Riley, Bruce Searles, Craig Vocelka), and AmSECT's Webmaster Matthew Cate, worked on the implementation project for several months before PerfList moved to AmSECT.

She observed, "Our objective was to make the transition as smooth as possible so that the subscribers would notice practically no difference in operations, and I think we succeeded. The new AmSECT system is really great - it's so much easier to manage in almost every way. It's better for the subscribers too."

Although PerfList is an AmSECT function now, Sue Boettcher is still involved as a monitor of operations. She plans to continue in this capacity into the indefinite future, but at some time PerfList operations will be transitioned over to other AmSECT leaders.

Boettcher says "One of our criteria for PerfList membership has always been that you have to be an 'active perfusionist' to belong. It's kind of ironic now that I'm making a career change, and soon won't BE an active perfusionist myself. So it's time to begin thinking about making that transition, to putting the perfusion community more in charge of PerfList, and making it responsible for its own tool."

Her interest in computers and PerfList might suggest she is a one-dimensional person. Nothing could be further from the truth. She has an interest in women's issues and women's community, writes fiction and nonfiction, and is a musician and photographer.

And she has new mountains to climb. In 1996 she started a web site design firm, which has occupied her on a part-time basis thus far. However, her company, WWCoCo New Media, already includes Digital City San Francisco in its client list.

"We do web design, but we specialize in what's called 'online community building,'" Boettcher says. "Online community, like PerfList, can be used to connect people around the world who wouldn't have a chance to meet otherwise. I find the whole concept endlessly fascinating and exciting. Our business tagline is: 'building places for people online.'"

She also recently completed a certificate program in interactive multimedia. "I see a tremendous potential in interactive multimedia, and believe this is the wave of the future on the web both for education and entertainment. This is a technology underutilized at present by perfusionists and almost everyone else, but which will be extremely important in the future as Internet transmission speed issues are solved. I want to be a part of it."

With her track record, who is going to say she's wrong!

(To subscribe to PerfList, assuming you are an active perfusionist, perfusion student, or perfusion assistant, you can use the form on the AmSECT web site at http://www.amsect.org/perflist/)

How To Contact Sue Boettcher

Boettcher invites you to visit her web site at http://www.wwcoco.com. She also welcomes your questions, comments, and inquiries.

She may be reached as follows:

Sue Boettcher
WWCoCo New Media
E-mail: suebd@wwcoco.com
Telephone: 314-727-6803

Related Links

PerfList

WWCoCo New Media