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Anesthesiologist
Administers anesthesia during surgery and monitors patients' vital signs throughout.
Did you know?
The first public demonstration of ether anaesthesia was on 16 October 1846 in Boston. The date is now celebrated as World Anaesthesia Day.
How subjects help
- Biology: Watch heart rate and breathing to keep a sleeping patient safe during surgery.
- Chemistry: Mix and balance the medicines that put a patient to sleep and block their pain.
- Physics: Control gas flow and pressure in the machine that breathes for a patient.
A famous name
Virginia Apgar: American anesthesiologist who created the Apgar score in 1952 to check newborn babies' health.
Try it yourself: Count your breaths before and after exercise
- Sit still for a minute, then count how many times your chest rises in 30 seconds. Double it to get breaths per minute.
- Do star jumps at a steady pace for one minute. (Skip this if you have asthma or a heart condition, unless an adult says it is fine.)
- Straight away, count your chest rises for 30 seconds again and double it.
- Count once more after resting for three minutes, and draw a bar chart of your three results.
Respiratory therapists and anaesthetists watch breathing rate closely, because it is one of the first signs that a patient needs help.
Adapted from Oak National Academy: The effects of exercise on breathing and heart rate.
Also try: Catch a falling ruler.
Known for it in
USA, Australia, Switzerland, Canada, Germany