President's Message

By Al Stammers, MSA, CCP
AmSECT President

The summer months bring the welcome respite of vacations and time off, to serve as rejuvenation for the mind and body from the stresses of clinical life. Engrained in our minds are the memories of years gone by, when the harbinger of summer vacation propelled us through our studies. The anticipation of such a reward was motivation enough to continue with our studies. Has it been lost as we begin practicing as professionals?

This summer and early fall, AmSECT is proud to offer a full line of continuing education programs to enhance knowledge with the ultimate goal of improving patient care to enhance outcomes.

The first program is the Fourteenth Annual New Advances in Blood Management Symposium, or NABM, held August 23-26. This meeting is dedicated to presenting the latest information in the field of perioperative blood management, which represents the fastest growing service for perfusionists. The meeting has grown over the years with just under 200 people attending on a regular basis.

Although, as the title would indicate, NABM is devoted to the field of blood management, approximately 20% of the meeting content is in other areas of perfusion, including new technologies and case discussions. The meeting continues to expand internationally and this year we are pleased to have on faculty Jane Ottens and Darryl McMillan from Australia , as well as Peter Everts from The Netherlands.

The meeting alternates between Kansas City, Missouri and Jackson Hole, Wyoming. This year’s ocation is Jackson Hole, located in the heart of the Teton Mountains. The gateway to Yellowstone Park, has been described as the most picturesque town in America, with breathtaking vistas and outstanding local amenities. Fly-fishing, wildlife viewing, hiking, and mountain climbing are just a few of the area attractions. The meeting attire is cowboy casual where jeans and flannel are req uired dress.

Major subject areas addressed at NABM include:

  • Autologous Platelet Harvesting and its Applications
  • Bloodless Surgery and the Improvement of Cardiopulmonary Bypass
  • Methods for Minimizing Bleeding and Allogeneic Blood Transfusion
  • The Role of Extracorporeal Interventions in Optimizing Perfusion
  • Alternative Treatment Methods to Heparin and Protamine
  • Advances in Coagulation Monitoring
  • Mechanisms of Reducing Inflammation during Cardiopulmonary Bypass

The second program is a joint annual Pediatric Conference sponsored by AmSECT and the Extracorporeal Life Support Organization (ELSO) . This meeting is dedicated solely to improving knowledge on methods of performing extracorporeal circulation, both short- and long-term, in patients treated for congenital heart disease. The complexity of this patient population continues to expand, while the use of cardiopulmonary bypass for less complex lesions (septal defects, valvular stenoses) reduces. Because of this, continuing education for perfusionists involved in the care of this challenging patient population becomes critical to enhancing care. With limited opportunities for pediatric perfusionists, this meeting has become the standard for improving one’s knowledge for this specialty. The alternate-year partnership with ELSO has served the purpose of combining two aspects of perfusion under one venue, which benefits the clinician involved in both practice areas.

The meeting is being held at the Sheraton Buckhead Hotel in Atlanta, Georgia from September 14-17, and is conveniently accessible from the Atlanta Airport via the MARTA.

The final program is the newest directed by AmSECT and is called Advanced Practices and Improved Outcomes in Perfusion, or Best Practices for short. It has been designed to incorporate an evidenced-based medicine approach to the conduct of perfusion and emphasizes associated modalities to generate best practice perfusion initiatives.

Meeting highlights will include:

  • Measuring and improving quality of care and outcomes for persons undergoing surgical procedures involving extra-corporeal circulation
  • New and innovative approaches for assessing the quality of care delivered to patients
  • New and innovative methods for making real and lasting change within one’s organization
  • New research with implications for improving clinical care
  • Conducting clinical research

The meeting is conducted by the International Consortium for Evidence-Based Perfusion (ICEBP), a multi-organizational group with a mission to continuously improve the delivery of care and outcomes for surgical patients through peer review of scientific publications. Objectives include: developing evidence-based guidelines for extracorporeal circulation, promoting the integration of guidelines into clinical practice, identifying gaps in the medical literature, encouraging research in areas where evidence is scarce, and evaluating improvement in surgical care related to the adoption of the guidelines.

The meeting will be held from October 5-7, 2006 in Bellevue, Washington at the Hilton Bellevue Hotel. The three-day meeting will begin on Thursday afternoon and conclude on Saturday evening. Each scientific session is devoted to specific subject matter and will incorporate ample discussion and case presentations, as well as invited lecturers.

AmSECT continues to strive to improve the conduct of perfusion through its mission of fostering improved patient care by providing for the continuing education and professional needs of the extracorporeal circulation technology community. We hope you all can participate in one or more of these opportunities.