Each of us has something unique to contribute to uphold the mission of our society, the promotion of safe, high-quality pediatric sedation. Alphabetically (as to not show favoritism!), as I see it, our anesthesia colleagues provide a long history of safety initiatives, airway and pharmacological knowledge; while our child life practitioners give us tools for empathy, distraction, and non-pharmacological methods for easing children through procedures. Our critical care colleagues contribute expertise in dealing with sicker children, while our dentists remind us that not all sedation occurs in a hospital setting. Emergency medicine members push the NPO envelope and help us to consider the issues around unscheduled outpatient procedures, while our hospitalists provide links to the complexities of the pediatric inpatient world. Finally, our nurses and nurse-practitioners show us how to keep the show running, with growing expertise in the practicalities of screening, scheduling, and the “boots on the ground” performance of pediatric sedation.
We have so much to learn from one another, all in the interest of better care of kids using a team approach. As we enter our twelfth year as a society (our senior year!), we should remember that a diverse, involved membership will keep us stronger. Opportunities for involvement are diverse as well, but start in the work of our committees. Our society accomplishes the bulk of our work through four main committees: Education, headed by Anne Stormorken; Quality and Safety, led by Cheri Landers; Research/PSRC under Dan Tsze; and Membership and Communications run by Pradip Kamat. Each of these committees needs members from all of the backgrounds mentioned above in order to function optimally.
I look forward to a productive 2-year term helping the SPS to meet current goals, including updating the SPS Provider Course, expanding the Center of Excellence designation, making the PSRC more accessible to focused projects and dental data, and increasing our membership and global reach. These are ambitious goals, but we can accomplish all of them with the help of our diverse membership.
Susanne Kost, MD
President, Society for Pediatric Sedation®
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