The Difficult Airway Course Well Represented at SAM 2018

The Society for Airway Management held its 21st SAM Annual Scientific Meeting and Workshop in Chicago last month, and several members of The Difficult Airway Course’s faculty had the opportunity to speak and present at the conference.

Program Co-Chair John Sakles MD, SAM President Lorraine Foley MD, Darren Braude MD, Matteo Parotto MD, J. Adam Law MD,  MBA, Michael Steuerwald MD, Laura Duggan MD, Elizabeth Behringer MD, and Program Chair Narasimhan (Sim) Jagannathan MD, MBA all played a part in the conference’s success by giving lectures, moderating discussion, organizing and demonstrating presentations throughout the weekend.

SAM brings together health care providers from several fields, including Anesthesiology, Emergency Medicine, Pulmonology, Otolaryngology and more to further educate and discuss airway management.

John Sakles MD, who is on the SAM Board of Directors, thinks that its inclusivity in who attends is the conference’s biggest strength. “The most unique aspect of this conference is that it’s a multi-disciplinary group of doctors, anesthesiologists, nurses and paramedics that all have an interest in airway management,” he says. “We get to interact with people who have different experiences and learn how people practice in different environments.”

J. Adam Law MD agrees that this year’s SAM conference really stood out in its efforts to include a wide array of voices. “You have all qualified people, but now new blood is coming in,” he adds. “We see different people, which is really good. It’s good to see people who are interested in airways.”

Dr. Law gave the Ovassapian Lecture, which he felt was a great privilege and challenge. “I was invited to give the Ovassapian Address, which was a great honor for me,” he says. “It’s named for one of the originators of the organization, Andy Ovassapian. It’s quite stressful, but a great honor to get to give a keynote address.”

Dr. Sakles thinks the number of faculty representing The Difficult Airway Course at SAM is a testament to The Course’s commitment to the field of airway management. “This [SAM] is the major airway organization in the U.S.,” he says. “Having representation is nice because our faculty contributes a lot in terms of education and research. We can spread knowledge, and it’s a nice way to meet people from all over the globe.”

Next year’s World Airway Management Meeting (jointly presented by SAM and the Difficult Airway Society (DAS)) will be held in Amsterdam in November 2019, and the 2020 SAM meeting will be held in Phoenix.