Chair: Kathleen Harris, MD
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Vice Chair: Sean Antosh, MD

The Perioperative Care of Children with Special Developmental and/or Behavioral Health Needs SIG will allow anesthesia providers interested in the care of children with developmental and/or behavioral health needs to collaborate and learn from one another.  The SIG will work to develop best practice guidelines for the perioperative care of children with special developmental and /or behavioral health needs.  We will work as a group to improve the education of pediatric anesthesiologists for these patients by developing curriculum resources.  We will collaborate with centers nationally and internationally to identify knowledge gaps in the care of these children to identify future research initiatives.

Objectives:

1. Develop best practice guidelines for the perioperative care of children with special needs.
2. Improve education for perioperative care teams (anesthesia, surgery, nursing, child-life, security, pediatricians) to effectively care for children with special needs by developing curriculum resources for these patients.
3. Review and disseminateliterature addressing the anesthetic care of children with special needs.
4. Collaborate collectively and partner with the ASA committee on pediatric anesthesia.  (Multi-disciplinary approach)
5. Identify knowledge gaps in the care of children with special needs.
6. Encourage clinical and outcomes researchin the perioperative care of anesthesia children with special needs.