Most ideas aren t new ideas. The concept of emu oil as being useful for any number of things primarily originated from the people who have used it for many centuries. Actually, some of the oldest people on Earth, as far as the time that they ve been here, are the Australoid race, or the Australian Aborigines. The obvious one that comes to mind to an anesthesiologist is to start an intravenous drugs. We want to know in a few seconds whether the anesthetic is working or not.
Vaccination is an interesting example.
In the last few months, all of the post-secondary students in British Columbia were vaccinated for measles after an outbreak in Vancouver. It s a large group because the hepatitis B and the German measles vaccines, of course, are given to the early preteens and that s often a group that we recognize, certainly, as anesthesiologists. As young people, particularly in the preteen and early teen years, that can get very anxious and upset about an injection. If something were available to minimize that trauma, life could be a lot simpler for public health nurses and other personnel. Suturing of wounds is always a tough consideration the decision is whether to put the local anesthetic in, and make two or three holes, or just go straight ahead and suture with a tiny needle.