The ASA-Lifebox Resident Challenge Featured in ASA Monitor

In an article in  the ASA Monitor,  Dr. Brian Vaughan, American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) Charitable Foundation Board Member and the 2022 University of Cincinnati team captain, reflects on the impact of the ASA-Lifebox Resident Challenge and why participants should join. Read the full article here.

The ASA-Lifebox Resident Challenge is an annual peer-to-peer fundraiser hosted by Lifebox and the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA).  Anesthesia residency programs across the United States compete to raise funds for safer anesthesia worldwide. This year fundraising is focused on supporting donations of the new Smile Train-Lifebox Capnograph in addition to Lifebox’s ongoing work on access to pulse oximetry. 

Capnography is an essential tool for monitoring patients during anesthesia. Though it has been used universally in high-income countries for decades, it remains almost entirely absent from low-resource setting operating rooms. 

A pulse oximeter is a minimum standard for safe anesthesia, yet operating rooms in resource-constrained settings around the world still lack this essential device – putting millions of lives at risk. 

Lifebox addresses these major gaps in anesthesia safety with the Smile Train-Lifebox Capnograph and the Lifebox Pulse Oximeter. The ASA-Lifebox Resident Challenge is one of the primary ways Lifebox funds the distribution of these critical tools.

Dr. Brian Vaughan; anesthesiologist, ASA Charitable Foundation Board Member, and 2022 University of Cincinnati team captain; has seen the impact of the Resident Challenge first-hand: 

“When I worked at Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Center (KCMC) in Moshi, Tanzania, for the first time in 2005, there was only one pulse oximeter for a 700-bed hospital serving over 10 million people with 14 operating rooms and multiple intensive care units (ICUs).  Anesthesia mishaps were a near daily occurrence and the ICUs struggled to take care of patients.  When I returned to KCMC in 2017, every operating room had a Lifebox Pulse Oximeter, the Surgical Safety Checklist was being implemented, and patient safety had massively improved.” 

Dr. Vaughan helped lead the Resident Challenge for the 2022 winning team, the University of Cincinnati, raising over $22,000. Dr. Vaughan reflects, “Having such a large impact on thousands of patients worldwide as well as bringing my department together for a common cause was incredibly rewarding.”

“‘If I did not have this device, I would not be able to tell that the tube is in the right place. And how does that affect me? Keeps me from panicking. The other alternative is using the stethoscope, the ones that doctors usually wear around to listen and make sure that the tube is in. But that takes a while, and it needs two people. But with the capnography, even when I’m alone and I see the reading of the carbon dioxide, I can be able to tell that the tube is in the right place. So that is why I am very happy that we have these capnographs that have been donated by Lifebox and Smile Train to help us make sure we are giving safe anesthesia,’ said Juliana Nanimambi, anesthesiologist, CoRSU Hospital Uganda.”

The 2024 Challenge continues to advance this work, with a focus on Uganda, Burkina Faso, Benin, and Honduras.

To make this year even more impactful, the ASA Charitable Foundation will match the first $20,000 raised. The first 10 departments to join and raise $2,000 will receive a matching donation of $2,000, boosting our collective efforts.

You can read more on the ASA-Lifebox Resident Challenge and its impact in the ASA Monitor Article ‘ASA Residents Spearheading Safer Anesthesia for Colleagues Worldwide’ 

Join Lifebox and the American Society of Anesthesiologists in the ASA-Lifebox Resident Challenge or donate here. This guide and toolkit contains resources to help teams fundraise. Together we can save lives through safer anesthesia.