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1.   The College acknowledges that local anaesthetic agents may be administered to patients by allied health practitioners to perform procedures for which they are legally qualified. Such health practitioners may include Dentists, certain Registered Nurses and Podiatrists.

2.   Health practitioners who may administer local anaesthetic agents must be appropriately trained in the use of local anaesthetic agents and relevant local anaesthesia techniques. It is desirable for ANZCA Fellows (or equivalent) to be involved in the design and implementation of such training.

3.   The course of instruction should include the detailed pharmacology of the drugs used with emphasis on the complications due to the drugs or injections. Training and certified competence in cardiopulmonary resuscitation is essential.

4.   Patients undergoing procedures performed by allied health practitioners should not be denied the benefits of general anaesthesia when clearly indicated.

5.   Arrangements must be made for the continuing medical management of such patients if required.

COLLEGE PROFESSIONAL DOCUMENTS

College Professional Documents are progressively being coded as follows:

TE Training and Educational

EX Examinations

PS Professional Standards

T Technical

POLICY – defined as ‘a course of action adopted and pursued by the College’. These are matters coming within the authority and control of the College.

RECOMMENDATIONS – defined as ‘advisable courses of action’.

GUIDELINES – defined as ‘a document offering advice’. These may be clinical (in which case they will eventually be evidence-based), or non-clinical.

STATEMENTS – defined as ‘a communication setting out information’.

This document is intended to apply wherever anaesthesia is administered.

This document has been prepared having regard to general circumstances, and it is the responsibility of the practitioner to have express regard to the particular circumstances of each case, and the application of this document in each case.

Professional documents are reviewed from time to time, and it is the responsibility of the practitioner to ensure that the practitioner has obtained the current version. Professional documents have been prepared having regard to the information available at the time of their preparation, and the practitioner should therefore have regard to any information, research or material which may have been published or become available subsequently.

Whilst the College endeavours to ensure that professional documents are as current as possible at the time of their preparation, it takes no responsibility for matters arising from changed circumstances or information or material which may have become available subsequently.

Promulgated: 1998

Reviewed: 2004

Date of current document: Feb 2004

© This document is copyright and cannot be reproduced in whole or in part without prior permission.

College Website: http://www.anzca.edu.au/