Dr Rachel Freedman is a consultant adult and paediatric anaesthetist at St. Mary's Hospital in London. Rachel graduated from the University of Birmingham, and worked in Bristol and Brisbane before commencing anaesthetic training in Exeter. Here she worked with Iain Wilson and Keith Allman, and benefited firsthand from the 'corridor conversations' that are at the heart of this Handbook. Ten years later, Iain and Keith have handed over the OHA reins to Rachel, Lara, Aidan, and Nicola. Rachel was one of the inaugural Lifebox Fellows of Anaesthesia, spending six months in Uganda in 2016 working clinically and on quality improvement projects focused on safe anaesthesia and surgery. Rachel is course director for the Developing World Anaesthesia course held twice a year at the Royal College of Anaesthetists, and topic lead for the Association of Anaesthetists course SAFE Paediatrics GB&I. Rachel is married with two children, one of whom arrived during the preparation of this book!

Dr Lara Herbert is a consultant anaesthetist in Cornwall. She is a generalist with interests in major trauma, paediatric, obstetric, and global anaesthesia. She graduated from Trinity College Dublin in 2004 and subsequently worked as a Royal Navy General Duties Medical Officer, seeing active service in Afghanistan. Her anaesthetics training took place in Exeter, Bristol, and Bath, and included a 6-month Lifebox fellowship in clinical and quality improvement in Uganda. Lara works closely with the Zimbabwean Anaesthetics Association to deliver regular SAFE courses there. She also edits for Anaesthesia Tutorial of the Week. She is married with a son.

Dr Aidan O'Donnell is a consultant anaesthetist and medical writer with a special interest in anaesthesia for childbirth. He graduated from Edinburgh in 1996 and trained in Scotland and New Zealand, where he works at Waikato Hospital in Hamilton. He is a Fellow of the Royal College of Anaesthetists and the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists. He is the author of Anaesthesia: A Very Short Introduction. He and his partner have four children.

Dr Nicola Ross is a consultant anaesthetist with a special interest in CPET, pre-assessment, and anaesthesia for head and neck surgery. After medical school at UMDS Guy's and St Thomas' in London, Nicola was a trainee on the South Coast, Yorkshire, and New Zealand. Having CCT'd in 2013 Nicola worked as a consultant in Yorkshire, followed by a period in Queensland, eventually settling in Devon in 2019. Nicola has also worked and taught in low income settings in Uganda as well as for the ICRC in Nigeria, Armenia and the Philippines.

• 1: Good practice and safety


• 2: Preoperative considerations


• 3: Preoptimisation


• 4: At risk populations


• 5: Cardiovascular disease


• 6: Respiratory disease


• 7: Renal disease


• 8: Hepatic disease


• 9: Endocrine and metabolic disease


• 10: Bone, joint, and connective tissue disorders


• 11: Haematology


• 12: Neurological and neuromuscular disorders


• 13: Psychiatric disorders


• 14: Getting started


• 15: Airway assessment and management


• 16: Conduct of anaesthesia


• 17: Blood products and fluid therapy


• 18: Specific circumstances


• 19: Cardiac anaesthesia


• 20: Thoracic surgery


• 21: Neurosurgery


• 22: Vascular surgery


• 23: Orthopaedic surgery


• 24: Plastic and burns surgery


• 25: Gastrointestinal surgery


• 26: Bariatric surgery


• 27: Liver procedures


• 28: Endocrine surgery


• 29: Urological surgery


• 30: Gynaecological surgery


• 31: Ear, nose and throat surgery


• 32: Maxillofacial and dental surgery


• 33: Ophthalmic surgery


• 34: Anaesthesia for radiology and cardiology


• 35: Obstetric anaesthesia and analgesia


• 36: Paediatric and neonatal anaesthesia


• 37: The major trauma patient


• 38: The emergency patient


• 39: Anaesthetic emergencies


• 40: Regional anaesthesia


• 41: Acute pain


• 42: Drug formulary