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Dear Colleague,   Many thanks to everyone who participated in the recent survey on Assisted Dying / Physician Assisted Suicide. With almost 400 respondents, the results indicate a marked diversity of views with no overall majority of support either for enacting new legislation or for maintaining the status quo. Accordingly, the College Council has approved a neutral position, neither for nor against any proposed legislation.   View here the stated CAI Position and a summary of the survey results.

Professor Richard SJ Clarke BSc MD PhD FFARCS FFARCSI (1929-2023)   It is with great sadness that we have learned of the death of Professor Richard Clarke on December 6th of 2023. Professor Clarke was a former Dean of the Faculty of Anaesthetists RCSI from 1991-4 and was Chair of the Faculty’s Education Committee for many years. He was a very distinguished researcher, publishing more than 200 peer-reviewed publications, mainly in the fields of physiology and anaesthesiology. As a clinician, he worked as a consultant anaesthesiologist at the Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast,

Applications are invited to the Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School/CAI Advanced Clinical Fellowship Programme in Anaesthesiology. The CAI, in cooperation with the Department of Anaesthesia, Critical Care and Pain Medicine at MGH invite applications for the Fellowship by submitting to Training@coa.ie : 1. Curriculum Vitae 2. A personal statement (less than 1500 words) including an account of the motivation for applying. Appointments are made on a rolling basis to a maximum of two successful applicants per annum. Further details of the programme are below, and queries may be directed to Dr Hovig Chitilian (HCHITILIAN@mgh.harvard.edu) or Dr Patrick

The HSE have issued a safety critical national patient safety alert for action by everyone using Olympus High Flow Insufflation Unit UHI-4. UHI – 4 is used to facilitate laparoscopic and endoscopic observation, diagnosis, and treatment. It is used to insufflate the abdominal cavity and colon and provides automatic suction and smoke evacuation. What is the issue? This alert highlights a field safety notice that the medical device company Olympus has issued after it became aware of patients experiencing complications from over insufflation where UHI-4s were used, including arrythmias, gas embolism and