THIS month member Dr Ellie Zaremba kept fellow members wide awake as she delivered an interesting talk about her work as an anaesthetist at Musgrove Park Hospital in Taunton.

She began with a comprehensive history of anaesthesia, which can be defined as ‘reversible lack of awareness’. The word derives from the Greek, ‘an’ – without, ‘aesthesis’ – sensation.

Members were shown pictures of one of the earliest uses of anaesthesia, an Egyptian painting of men being circumcised. One of the men underwent the procedure without any type of pain relief – and his expression said it all – whereas the second man had a local anaesthetic and looked much happier as a result.

The modern use of anaesthetics began in 1846 in Boston, Massachusetts, when dental student William Morton performed a dental extraction using ether. Queen Victoria was at the forefront of using anaesthetics in this country, when she was administered chloroform for the birth of Prince Leopold in 1853. This royal patronage encouraged the wider use of anaesthetics, leading to their routine use today.

Ellie has undergone extensive training and now holds an associate specialist post. She explained that she had wanted to be an orthopaedic surgeon but later felt that anaesthetists had more variety in their work. She loves the immediacy of the effects her work brings to people.

Her job has many aspects, from pre-operative assessment to post-operative care, support in intensive care, transport of acutely ill and injured patients, resuscitation and stabilisation, and working in the emergency department in the hospital. She also spends one day a week on the labour ward providing lumbar punctures, epidurals and pain relief for the surgical procedures needed in some cases. Her role also includes psychological support to patients, as pain brings a variety of emotions. Ellie also does some teaching and training.

Members’ time was spent making paper pompoms with varying degrees of success but great enjoyment.

Members were pleased that their displays of poppies in the park and Monmouth Gardens for Remembrance Day had received lots of positive comments from the British Legion and members of the public.

At the Somerset Federation of Women’s Institutes annual meeting earlier in the month, the group was presented with its fifth anniversary certificate. The group is still comparatively new and it was proposed that a series of scrapbooks should be put together recording past and future activities, so a permanent record is available for future members.

The December meeting is the Christmas meal, so the January meeting will be the next time the group can welcome new members and guests.