ANZCA National Anaesthesia Day 2024

With the theme "You're in safe hands", our aim for National Anaesthesia Day (NAD) this year is to focus on “real” anaesthetists with real stories that help the community understand what anaesthetists actually do, how well qualified they are and the essential role they play in the health system. 

We hope that you will join us in celebrating National Anaesthesia Day by nominating a #NAD24 champion at your hospital or anaesthesia practice.

Champions may want to organise a hospital foyer display, hang posters, share their activities on social media or even organise a #NAD24 bake day.

ANZCA’s #NAD24 resources will this year include A3 (download here) and A4 posters (download here) that can be on display all year round, as well as video interviews with fellows across Australia and New Zealand. You can also download and print this activity sheet for kids.

Did you know..?

Each year, more than four million Australians and New Zealanders will have an anaesthetic. In fact, most people will need the care of an anaesthetist at some stage in their lives – for pain relief during the birth of a baby, for a routine day-stay procedure or for a major operation requiring complex, split-second decisions that keep patients alive. But it's one of those things we don't really think about until we need it. To help you feel more relaxed about having surgery under anaesthesia, we've created a wide range of patient information.

About National Anaesthesia Day

An ANZCA initiative, National Anaesthesia Day is usually held each year on 16 October to mark the anniversary of the day in 1846 that ether anaesthesia was first demonstrated publicly.