The University of Glasgow will play host this week to the Annual Meeting of the Difficult Airway Society (DAS).

A more appropriate location would be difficult to find, as the University of Glasgow is the home of tracheal intubation for administration of anaesthesia as introduced by William MacEwen in 1878.

The DAS 2003 Meeting will offer a unique training opportunity that has never been organised in the world before. All 180 plus delegates will be able to collectively participate in workshop events at the University to update their techniques and try out new developments in their field.

Hundreds of plastic mannequins with full anaesthetic kits will be in use for this large scale exercise in which delegates from across UK, Europe and North America will take part. Partly located in the Anatomy Museum, delegates will have an interesting backdrop to their 'hands-on' workshop with some reminders of earlier, more painful procedures. Indeed, many of William MacEwan's demonstrations were held in his surgical laboratory at the University of Glasgow, the remnants of which now make up part of the Department of Anatomy.

Conference organiser and Honorary Clinical Senior Lecturer in Anaesthesia at the University of Glasgow, Dr John Henderson, said:

' I have been involved in this field for over 30 years and while I have seen incredible developments in my profession, I recognise, as did MacEwan, that problems still exist and there is a real need for continuous training and development.'

Workshops on this scale offer an opportunity for my colleagues around the world to share experiences and try out new and up-to-date techniques in a stimulating and lively environment. While workshops have been a feature of DAS meetings for many years, they have never been undertaken in such a scale before.'

The Difficult Airway Society (DAS) was formed in London in 1995 and has grown to be a strong society with more than 750 members. It is based in the UK and has members from around the world.

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First published: 2 December 2003