‘Staying awake while the patient sleeps’: A 50-year journey the College of Anaesthesiologists and Intensivists
On March 26, 1972 the inaugural meeting of the Ceylon College of Anaesthetists was held in the Consultants Lounge of the General Hospital, Colombo. The objectives of the College were to (i) advance the knowledge of and to promote research in anaesthesia (ii) promote post graduate education in anaesthesia and (iii) promote fellowship among those engaged in the practice of or research in anaesthesia.
The first general meeting of the Ceylon College of Anaesthetists was held on August 5, 1972. The 12 members present along with 12 more members who enrolled within one month of the inaugural meeting were the founder members of the College. Dr J.L.C. Fernando was elected the first President, Dr S. Ponnambalam the Vice President and Drs V. Pathmanathan and A.T.W.P. Jayawardene the Joint Secretaries.
The emblem of the College consists of a coiled serpent, the universal symbol for medicine and an owl to symbolise the vigilance of the anaesthetist who stays awake while the patient sleeps, perched on a shield which is surrounded by entwined poppy leaves to signify analgesia. “Sensim Sine Sensu” which means quietly without pain was chosen as the motto of the College. Dr J.L.C. Fernando was responsible for introducing the emblem as well as the logo.
In 1973 the name of the College was changed to the College of Anaesthesiologists of Sri Lanka. The objectives of the College were restated and were intended to (i) achieve and maintain the highest standards of clinical practice of anaesthesia, critical care and pain management in the country (ii) advance the knowledge of and promote research in anaesthesia, critical care and pain management (iii) promote and advise on training and education in Anaesthesiology, critical care and pain management and (iv) promote fellowship among those associated with these specialties.
In 1972 a Basic Sciences Course for candidates preparing for the Primary Fellowship examination of the Royal College was started. The College also conducts courses for candidates preparing for other professional examinations in anaesthesiology. The College is represented in the Board of Study in Anaesthesiology of the Post Graduate Institute of Medicine. A continuing professional development meeting is held once a month.
The first Scientific Sessions of the College was held during Dr. A.T.W.P. Jayawardene’s presidency in 1984 with Dr Margaret Branthwaite, Consultant Anaesthetist and Physician from the Brompton Hospital, UK as Chief Guest. Academic gowns, the mace and the President’s badge were made for the sessions. The Scientific Sessions have been held every year since then. The 1995 sessions held in Kandy was the first to be held outside Colombo. The inaugural College of Anaesthesiologists of Sri Lanka oration was delivered that year. This oration was superseded in 1998 by the Dr B.S. Perera oration. The first Dr Thistle Jayawardene Oration was held in 2019.
In 1987 Dr Kalyani Nihalsinghe became the first female President of the College. Trustees were appointed for the first time in 1988. To reflect the involvement of its members in Critical Care and the management of pain, the constitution of the College was amended in 2010 to allow the creation of two faculties. The Faculty of Critical Care Medicine and the Faculty of Pain Medicine were inaugurated in July 2010. The inauguration was followed by the first scientific meetings of the two faculties which are now an annual feature.
In 1993 the College commenced a Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) Course open to all medical and paramedical personnel. A separate CPR committee was established in 2012 and the next year a course collaboration agreement was signed with the European Resuscitation Council to conduct Advanced Life Support (ALS) and Generic Instructor Courses (GIC) in Sri Lanka.
The College was admitted a member of the World Federation of Societies of Anaesthesiology (WFSA) in 1982. Dr Deepthi Attygalle who was the President of the College from 1989 to 1991 was elected to the regional board of the Asian and Australian Regional Section of the WFSA in 1990 and to the executive committee of the WFSA in 1996. Dr Kumudini Ranatunge is currently the General Secretary of the Asian Australasian Regional Section of the WFSA. The College is also a member of the World Federation of Intensive and Critical Care.
The College was one of the founder members of the Association of South Asian Confederation of Anaesthetists (SACA). Dr Deepthi Attygalle was elected a founder Vice President of the confederation. The College has hosted the second, sixth and twelfth Congresss of SAARC-AA in Sri Lanka.
The College journal first published in 1984 originally called the Journal of the College of Anaesthesiologists of Sri Lanka was changed in 1993 to the Sri Lankan Journal of Anaesthesiology and is now published online.
In 2014 the name of the College was changed to the College of Anaesthesiologists and Intensivists of Sri Lanka. The Constitution was further amended in 2021 to give equal status as a Faculty to the Resuscitation Council of Sri Lanka.
In its 50 years of existence, the College has contributed to advancement of knowledge and promotion of research in anaesthesia, critical care, resuscitation science and pain medicine; contributed to patient safety; been actively involved in the training of anaesthesiologists and intensivists; and promoted fellowship amongst its members and will continue to fulfil these objectives in the future too.
(The writer is Past President, College of Anaesthesiologists & Intensivists of Sri Lanka)
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