Acknowledging that,
in 1981, the Federal
Aviation
Administration
enacted what's com-
monly known as the
"sterile cockpit rule."
The rule basically
forbids crew mem-
bers from perform-
ing any non-essential
activities during taxi,
takeoff, landing and
all other operations
conducted below
10,000 feet. In so
doing, the FAA rec-
ognized that there's a key difference between times that demand full
attention and times when crewmembers need to be able to do some-
thing other than just stare at the controls.
The same can be said of anesthesia providers. A 2009 study conclud-
ed that reading and non-patient-related conversation during the low-
workload portions of the maintenance phase of anesthesia don't nega-
tively impact vigilance. Similar to the drone-pilot study, the
researchers suggested that reading during non-critical periods can
actually improve vigilance by keeping providers intellectually occu-
pied and clinically stimulated.
Still, we need to recognize that despite the lack of any clear scientif-
ic data suggesting that personal electronic devices negatively affect
Anesthesia Alert
AA
3 6 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • A U G U S T 2 0 1 7
DISTRACTED DOCTORING? An anesthesiologist named in a medical malpractice suit in
the case of a woman who died during a routine heart procedure allegedly posted this
photo of an anesthesia monitor to his Facebook.
