About CPAS

The Canadian Pediatric Anesthesia Society began its life as a concept in the minds of John Muir and Ramona Kearney. They felt that there was a need for a small meeting that allowed pediatric anesthetists from neighbouring hospitals to get together and discuss cases and management issues specific to pediatric anesthesia. The meetings were to be held on the Pacific and Atlantic coasts of the country.

The first Atlantic Pediatric Anesthesia meeting was convened in Halifax. The IWK hosted the meeting. Representatives from Montreal Children’s, Edmonton Children’s, CHEO and the IWK were present. A guest speaker, Dr. George Meakin, University of Manchester, was invited to facilitate the first meeting. The meeting followed a basic format consisting of a research presentation and case discussions. The format has been followed by all subsequent meetings. The meeting lasted one day and was followed in the evening by a dinner. The meetings have since been hosted by St. Justine and Montreal Children’s in Montreal, CHEO in Ottawa, McMaster in Niagara on the Lake, the Janeway in St. John’s and the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. (See Appendix 1) Sponsorship for the first meeting was provided by Anaquest. Organon took over sponsorship for the next meetings.

Abbott has now joined in sponsoring the most recent meetings. The meetings were designed as small and intimate, where items and cases that could be discussed freely amongst fellowship trained pediatric anesthetists. This allowed controversies to be voiced openly. The onset of the Maintenance of Certification programming has necessitated a change in the nature of the meeting. In order to qualify for points a formal organizational structure was required. Prior to this the organization of each meeting was the responsibility of the hosting institution. At the last meeting held in Toronto it was decided that a national society be formed with John Muir as the president, Clayton Reichert as secretary, and Sylvain Mathews as treasurer.

The primary goal would be to continue to encourage free discussion within the pediatric anesthesia community while also meeting the requirements for maintenance of competence as set out by the Royal College. This would be done through the annual meeting. The society would also act as a central site for communication within Canadian pediatric anesthesia and with the world pediatric anaesthesia societies internationally committees (e.g. APA, SPA).

The officers on the executive would have a two year position with the exception of the first appointment which would be for three years.

Past dates, sites and hosts of meetings

1993 Halifax, NS IWK Children’s Hospital
1994 Ottawa, ON Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario
1995 Montreal, PQ Montreal Children’s Hospital & Hospital Ste. Justine
1996 Halifax, NS IWK Children’s Hospital
1997 Montreal, PQ Hospital Ste. Justine & Montreal Children’s Hospital
1998 Niagara on the Lake, ON McMaster University
1999 St. John’s, NF Janeway Child Health Centre
2000 Toronto, ON Hospital for Sick Children