Veterinary Anaesthesia and Analgesia, 2014, 41, 443–444
doi:10.1111/vaa.12206
EDITORIAL
Association of Veterinary Anaesthetists – the beginnings
Following on the first recorded administration of a general anaesthetic to a human in Boston in 1846, in the form of ether, the news and the adoption of the technique rapidly spread to the UK. Within a year the technique had been used in most species of domestic animals. It was not until the Animals Anaesthetics Act 1919 that legislation was passed in the UK regulating the use of anaesthesia in animals. This had been preceded in 1915 by the publication of the first textbook on the subject by Hobday. Progress in the subject throughout the first half of the 20th Century was relatively slow with the possible exceptions of the development of epidural anaesthesia by Brook in 1935 and the publication of the book by Wright in 1940. The seminal paper on the use of balanced anaesthesia in the dog and cat led to further developments in the subject by Hall and Weaver in 1954. The introduction of halothane by Raventos in 1956 provided a further stimulus to the development of the subject. By the mid-1960’s each of the UK Veterinary Schools had an academic post devoted to the subject. On January 6th 1964 a group of six people met at Langford, University of Bristol to discuss the possibility of forming an association and to discuss postgraduate education in the subject with a view to establishing a qualification. The meeting had been initiated by Leslie Hall and Barbara Weaver and in addition Professor JG Wright, Ronald Jones, Ben Mitchell and Derek Tavernor were present. It was resolved to explore the formation of an association of veterinary anaesthetists with a minimum membership of fifteen people and to explore the possibility of initiating a diploma in veterinary anaesthesia. Professor Wright was appointed as the first President and Barbara Weaver as the first secretary. The secretary would communicate with people who had expressed an interest in or contributed to the subject and invite them to an inaugural meeting. This was held on April 3rd 1964 at the Royal Veterinary 443
College in London and nineteen people attended and there were four apologies. It was agreed unanimously to proceed with the formation of the Association of Veterinary Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland and Professor Wright was elected President, Barbara Weaver secretary and Derek Tavernor treasurer. The committee was elected as was James Campbell, Leslie Hall and Noel Ormrod. Initially there would be ordinary members for which there would be strict criteria and those six people who attended the Bristol meeting would be founder members. Provision would be made for associate, corresponding and honorary members at a later date. The annual subscription was fixed at 2 guineas (£2–10 p). This would enable fully paid-up members to attend all meetings without charge. The constitution would be formulated by the committee with the assistance of the Association of Anaesthetists, GB & I. It was reported that on the initiative of Professor W.L. Weipers, president of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS), a group was formed to advise on the possible formation of a diploma in veterinary anaesthesia. The meeting to approve the constitution of the AVA was held in Liverpool on 5th June 1964. This was the first meeting to receive commercial sponsorship in that the British Oxygen Company provided funds for the hire of the venue, a buffet and mounted an exhibition of equipment. The first scientific and general meeting was held in Cambridge on 24–25th October 1964 on the subject of respiration and anaesthesia. The objectives of the Association were formulated and were: • To promote the study and development of anaesthesia in animals and the recognition of anaesthesia as a specialised branch of veterinary medicine. • To represent veterinary anaesthetists and to protect their interests.
Editorial
•
To coordinate the activities of those engaged in veterinary anaesthesia. • To disseminate knowledge of anaesthetic advances and to promote the establishment of diplomas and degrees in veterinary anaesthesia. • To encourage and promote collaboration and friendship between anaesthetists in all spheres. In view of the limited funds of the Association, committee members were urged not to claim expenses for attendance at meetings and that committee meetings would be held in conjunction with general meetings. The Annual General Meeting was held in Glasgow on 2nd April 1965. Subsequently, meetings were held twice a year, initially at the Veterinary Schools but later they were held at the ICI, Alderley Park with the University of Manchester and at the University of Cardiff. The first overseas meeting was held in Beerse, Belgium by the invitation of Janssen Pharmaceutica. A further meeting was held at the University of Utrecht in conjunction with the European Society of Veterinary Surgery. In 1968 it was suggested by Leslie Hall that the proceedings of meetings should be published to enable the people unable to attend meetings the opportunity to read them and to disseminate information. This was actioned and published by Janssen for a number of years after which it became the responsibility of the Association and, despite a number of problems, it survived to become the Journal of Veterinary Anaesthesia and eventually Veterinary Anaesthesia and Analgesia in its present form. Ronald Jones was appointed the first editor of the proceedings. In 1972, following the death of Professor Wright, a presidential chain of office bearing his portrait was commissioned. Also in 1972 a trust fund was initiated during the presidency of Ben Mitchell and the treasureship of Ronald Jones but it struggled to obtain any meaningful support. It was not until a few years later under Colonel John Langley’s secretaryship that it became established with sufficient funds to make grants. When president of AVA, Ronald Jones met with Wayne McDonell and the possibility of holding an international congress of veterinary anaesthesia was discussed. The AVA committee approved the idea and a small sub-committee was formed of Leslie Hall, as secretary (ably assisted by his wife), Evert Lagerweij, current president of the AVA, Polly Taylor, Derek Tavernor and Avril Waterman-Pearson. It
was generally accepted that the first meeting in Cambridge was a great success and meetings have been held every three years since 1982. In the early 1990s a move was made to form a European College of Veterinary Anaesthesia (ECVA) and due mainly to the enthusiasm of Polly Taylor and Dimitris Raptopoulos this became a reality. The Association of Veterinary Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland became the Association of Veterinary Anaesthetists and oversaw the establishment of the ECVA. Ronald S Jones Prenton, UK E-mail: [email protected] References Hall LW, Weaver BMQ (1954) Some notes on balanced anaesthesia for the dog and cat. Vet Rec 66, 289–293. Hobday FTG (1915) Anaesthesia & Narcosis of Animals ̀ and Birds. Bailliere, Tindall and Cox, London, UK. Jones RS (2002) A history of veterinary anaesthesia. An Vet Murcia 18, 7–15. Weaver BMQ, Hall LW (2005) Origin of the association of veterinary anaesthetists. Vet Anaesth Analg 32, 179– 183.
Presidents of the Association of Veterinary Anaesthetists – 50 years Professor J.G. Wright 1964–1967 Leslie Hall 1967–1970 Barbara Weaver 1970–1972 Ben Mitchell 1972–1976 Col. John Langley 1976–1980 Ronald Jones 1980–1982 KW Clarke 1982–1986 Avril Waterman 1986–1989 John Hird 1989–1992 Polly Taylor 1992–1994 Evert Lagerweij 1994–1996 Urs Schatzmann 1996–1998 Paul Flecknell 1998–2000 Dimitris Raptopoulos 2000–2002 Frank Gasthuys 2002–2005 Eddie Clutton 2005–2007 Yves Moens 2007–2009 Jackie Brearley 2009–2011 Peter Kronen 2011–2013 Elizabeth Leece 2013–present
© 2014 Association of Veterinary Anaesthetists and the American College of Veterinary Anesthesia and Analgesia, 41, 443–444
444
doi:10.1111/vaa.12206
EDITORIAL
Association of Veterinary Anaesthetists – the beginnings
Following on the first recorded administration of a general anaesthetic to a human in Boston in 1846, in the form of ether, the news and the adoption of the technique rapidly spread to the UK. Within a year the technique had been used in most species of domestic animals. It was not until the Animals Anaesthetics Act 1919 that legislation was passed in the UK regulating the use of anaesthesia in animals. This had been preceded in 1915 by the publication of the first textbook on the subject by Hobday. Progress in the subject throughout the first half of the 20th Century was relatively slow with the possible exceptions of the development of epidural anaesthesia by Brook in 1935 and the publication of the book by Wright in 1940. The seminal paper on the use of balanced anaesthesia in the dog and cat led to further developments in the subject by Hall and Weaver in 1954. The introduction of halothane by Raventos in 1956 provided a further stimulus to the development of the subject. By the mid-1960’s each of the UK Veterinary Schools had an academic post devoted to the subject. On January 6th 1964 a group of six people met at Langford, University of Bristol to discuss the possibility of forming an association and to discuss postgraduate education in the subject with a view to establishing a qualification. The meeting had been initiated by Leslie Hall and Barbara Weaver and in addition Professor JG Wright, Ronald Jones, Ben Mitchell and Derek Tavernor were present. It was resolved to explore the formation of an association of veterinary anaesthetists with a minimum membership of fifteen people and to explore the possibility of initiating a diploma in veterinary anaesthesia. Professor Wright was appointed as the first President and Barbara Weaver as the first secretary. The secretary would communicate with people who had expressed an interest in or contributed to the subject and invite them to an inaugural meeting. This was held on April 3rd 1964 at the Royal Veterinary 443
College in London and nineteen people attended and there were four apologies. It was agreed unanimously to proceed with the formation of the Association of Veterinary Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland and Professor Wright was elected President, Barbara Weaver secretary and Derek Tavernor treasurer. The committee was elected as was James Campbell, Leslie Hall and Noel Ormrod. Initially there would be ordinary members for which there would be strict criteria and those six people who attended the Bristol meeting would be founder members. Provision would be made for associate, corresponding and honorary members at a later date. The annual subscription was fixed at 2 guineas (£2–10 p). This would enable fully paid-up members to attend all meetings without charge. The constitution would be formulated by the committee with the assistance of the Association of Anaesthetists, GB & I. It was reported that on the initiative of Professor W.L. Weipers, president of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS), a group was formed to advise on the possible formation of a diploma in veterinary anaesthesia. The meeting to approve the constitution of the AVA was held in Liverpool on 5th June 1964. This was the first meeting to receive commercial sponsorship in that the British Oxygen Company provided funds for the hire of the venue, a buffet and mounted an exhibition of equipment. The first scientific and general meeting was held in Cambridge on 24–25th October 1964 on the subject of respiration and anaesthesia. The objectives of the Association were formulated and were: • To promote the study and development of anaesthesia in animals and the recognition of anaesthesia as a specialised branch of veterinary medicine. • To represent veterinary anaesthetists and to protect their interests.
Editorial
•
To coordinate the activities of those engaged in veterinary anaesthesia. • To disseminate knowledge of anaesthetic advances and to promote the establishment of diplomas and degrees in veterinary anaesthesia. • To encourage and promote collaboration and friendship between anaesthetists in all spheres. In view of the limited funds of the Association, committee members were urged not to claim expenses for attendance at meetings and that committee meetings would be held in conjunction with general meetings. The Annual General Meeting was held in Glasgow on 2nd April 1965. Subsequently, meetings were held twice a year, initially at the Veterinary Schools but later they were held at the ICI, Alderley Park with the University of Manchester and at the University of Cardiff. The first overseas meeting was held in Beerse, Belgium by the invitation of Janssen Pharmaceutica. A further meeting was held at the University of Utrecht in conjunction with the European Society of Veterinary Surgery. In 1968 it was suggested by Leslie Hall that the proceedings of meetings should be published to enable the people unable to attend meetings the opportunity to read them and to disseminate information. This was actioned and published by Janssen for a number of years after which it became the responsibility of the Association and, despite a number of problems, it survived to become the Journal of Veterinary Anaesthesia and eventually Veterinary Anaesthesia and Analgesia in its present form. Ronald Jones was appointed the first editor of the proceedings. In 1972, following the death of Professor Wright, a presidential chain of office bearing his portrait was commissioned. Also in 1972 a trust fund was initiated during the presidency of Ben Mitchell and the treasureship of Ronald Jones but it struggled to obtain any meaningful support. It was not until a few years later under Colonel John Langley’s secretaryship that it became established with sufficient funds to make grants. When president of AVA, Ronald Jones met with Wayne McDonell and the possibility of holding an international congress of veterinary anaesthesia was discussed. The AVA committee approved the idea and a small sub-committee was formed of Leslie Hall, as secretary (ably assisted by his wife), Evert Lagerweij, current president of the AVA, Polly Taylor, Derek Tavernor and Avril Waterman-Pearson. It
was generally accepted that the first meeting in Cambridge was a great success and meetings have been held every three years since 1982. In the early 1990s a move was made to form a European College of Veterinary Anaesthesia (ECVA) and due mainly to the enthusiasm of Polly Taylor and Dimitris Raptopoulos this became a reality. The Association of Veterinary Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland became the Association of Veterinary Anaesthetists and oversaw the establishment of the ECVA. Ronald S Jones Prenton, UK E-mail: [email protected] References Hall LW, Weaver BMQ (1954) Some notes on balanced anaesthesia for the dog and cat. Vet Rec 66, 289–293. Hobday FTG (1915) Anaesthesia & Narcosis of Animals ̀ and Birds. Bailliere, Tindall and Cox, London, UK. Jones RS (2002) A history of veterinary anaesthesia. An Vet Murcia 18, 7–15. Weaver BMQ, Hall LW (2005) Origin of the association of veterinary anaesthetists. Vet Anaesth Analg 32, 179– 183.
Presidents of the Association of Veterinary Anaesthetists – 50 years Professor J.G. Wright 1964–1967 Leslie Hall 1967–1970 Barbara Weaver 1970–1972 Ben Mitchell 1972–1976 Col. John Langley 1976–1980 Ronald Jones 1980–1982 KW Clarke 1982–1986 Avril Waterman 1986–1989 John Hird 1989–1992 Polly Taylor 1992–1994 Evert Lagerweij 1994–1996 Urs Schatzmann 1996–1998 Paul Flecknell 1998–2000 Dimitris Raptopoulos 2000–2002 Frank Gasthuys 2002–2005 Eddie Clutton 2005–2007 Yves Moens 2007–2009 Jackie Brearley 2009–2011 Peter Kronen 2011–2013 Elizabeth Leece 2013–present
© 2014 Association of Veterinary Anaesthetists and the American College of Veterinary Anesthesia and Analgesia, 41, 443–444
444
