A packed opening ceremony welcomed delegates to this year’s Euroanaesthesia, with Swiss yodellers giving a rousing performance to start proceedings.
Hosted by facilitator Roy Sheppard, a very entertaining session saw both ESA President Dr Zeev Goldik and ESA Secretary Dr Jannicke Mellin-Olsen answer questions on a range of themes, including the ESA’s mission, the importance of education and the drive to ensure safe anaesthesia for all people worldwide.
Then, in his final official duties as Research Committee Chair, Professor Wolfgang Buhre presented the various ESA grant prize winners with their awards, while at the same time thanking industry partners Baxter and Airliquide for their support and commitment to anaesthesiology research.
Dr Goldik also had the pleasure of awarding Honorary Memberships to both Past President Professor Daniela Filipescu (Romania) and Professor Carmen Gomar (Spain), both of whom have dedicated many years of service to ESA and its predecessor societies in various roles and committees. Prof Filipescu described the award as the “greatest honour of my career”, while Prof Gomar said that “the recognition of my peers is the most important recognition I can have.”
Prof Monty Mythen (University College London, UK) then delivered one of the highlights of the program, the Sir Robert Macintosh lecture, this year on perioperative medicine.
