title: Awareness in retrieval medicine.
abstract: Awareness is the spontaneous recall of an event(s) that occurred during general anaesthesia and surgery. The incidence of awareness is approximately 0.2% of cases where neuromuscular blockers are used and half that where they are omitted. The majority of data relating to awareness is from anaesthetic practice. We report a case of awareness associated with an out-of-hospital transportation of a critically ill patient requiring a medical escort (retrieval). We discuss the risk factors associated with awareness during retrieval, in particular the trend toward excessive administration of neuromuscular blockers, and the unique challenges for the prevention of awareness within the retrieval environment.
authors.affiliation: NRMA Careflight, Westmead, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gibson
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Flabouris
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000768:Anesthesia, General; D001364:Awareness / Q000502:physiology*; D003422:Critical Care; D016638:Critical Illness; D004562:Electrocardiography; D004632:Emergency Medical Services; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D009466:Neuromuscular Blocking Agents; D011247:Pregnancy; D012307:Risk Factors; D014187:Transportation of Patients
chemical_list: D009466:Neuromuscular Blocking Agents