Under the aegis of Indian Association of Pediatric Anaesthesiologists, the West Bengal Chapter was formed in Kolkata in 2018 .With the objective to promote safety and best practices through education and research; our main aim is to provide a platform to encourage knowledge sharing among peer groups, to promote safe pediatric anaesthesia practice and to disseminate medico-legal information among Paediatric Anaesthesia practitioners / Anaesthesiologists.

With these in mind, the first introductory CME on Paediatric Anaesthesia was organised by the West Bengal chapter on the 14th of July, 2018 at Park Clinic, Kolkata and 43 participants attended the event. The years of experience of participants ranged between 5 years and 35 years. Dr Anisha De, delivered the keynote address on behalf of the organising committee and stressed on the importance of strengthening the vision of IAPA in creating a strong network of medically and ethically sound paediatric anaesthesiologists through sharing of academic knowledge and resource optimization among members and other professional bodies.

Dr Krishnendu Chandra, MD, IDCCM (Critical Care), Assistant Professor, Department of Anaesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine,VIMS, RKMSP took the first session. He spoke on - Safety in Paediatric Anaesthesia and covered the basics related to the topic and its importance in context of creating safe practice guidelines. He also discussed the importance of incorporation of latest technology and necessity of regionalization of paediatric anaesthesia.

Dr Sailesh Kumar, MD ,Clinical Coordinator and In-charge of Operation Theatre, CMRI, Kolkata was the second speaker. He covered the medico-legal aspects of paediatric anaesthesia, emphasizing on what constitute safe paediatric practices and their implications.

We also had the pleasure to have a co- speaker, DebasmitaMitra Pandey, Advocate, High court , Kolkata to share the stage with Dr Kumar. Breaking the factors that can cause perioperative complications, the speakers walked the participants through the checklist of precautionary measures that should be a part of every paediatric anaesthesiologist's manual. They elaborated on the various medical and legal aspects of complications arising during surgical procedures and also emphasized on the importance of communication between an anaesthesiologist and family members of patient.

Both the sessions were chaired by Prof Purnima Mukherjee and Prof Bablurani Ghosh. Both are well known practitioners of pediatric anaesthesia and ex- head of departments of Anaesthesiology in renowned medical colleges of Kolkata.

Feedback:

• 44% of the respondents are members of IAPA including the speakers.
• 74% of the respondents strongly agreed that the program was relevant to their needs and that the topic selection was helpful.
• 70% of the respondents felt that the content was well organised and topics were clear and understandable
• 86% of the participants felt that the CME was up to their expectations.

Most participants suggested that CMEs should be organised on a regular basis. Some other suggestions are being highlighted below.

1. Arrange a CME on paediatric airway and paediatric regional anaesthesia.
2. Regular CME at least once in a month will improve our knowledge and discussions about individual aspects and the problems encountered during practice.
3. More and more CMEs and meets and discussions. Establish protocols and guidelines.
4. PALS and NALS programme.

On behalf of the WB chapter of IAPA the concluding address was delivered by
Dr Anisha De ( Secretary) and Dr IndraniMitra ( President) who thanked the speakers, participants and the host for their support in making the program a successful event.

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