Dear colleagues,

We are very pleased to invite you to the ESPA conference 2019. We have designed an exciting program with excellent and well known international speakers. The theme of the conference fits perfectly with the modern architecture of the city of Rotterdam: New Horizons for Paediatric Anaesthesia. The conference will be held in the modern conference centre DeDoelen ( De Doelen) in the heart of the city-centre Rotterdam next to the Central-Station. Rotterdam is easily connected to the rest of the world via Amsterdam-Schiphol-Airport ( Amsterdam- Schiphol – Airport). There is a high speed -train connection from Amsterdam-Schiphol-Airport to Rotterdam Central-Station which takes about 26 min and runs more than 4 times per hour(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stQQpaX650w&feature=youtu.be and https://www.ns.nl/en/travel-information/special-routes/intercity-direct.html).

For the first time, the conference will be preceded with three excellent intensive and hands-on workshops on: Advance Airway Management, Advanced Haemodynamic Monitoring, and Paediatric Anaesthesia Safety Quality Improvement Program which will be organised in the ErasmusMC -Sophia Children´s Hospital ( ErasmusMC-Sophia Children´s Hospital) on 18 September 2019 from 13:00 to 19:00 (see ESPA website for registration).

Our Opening Session on Thursday 19 September 2019 will include Anneke Meursing former president of FEAPA, most recent president Francis Veyckemans tackling  recent  ESPA activities, and President-Elect Laszlo Vutskits on the Future of Paediatric Anaesthesia. Following this we have a session with Visiting European Speakers (Joe Brierley, Dick Tibboel and Erik Ramon Isern) who will be  discussing aspects of perioperative and intensive care.

After the lunch-symposium break we will continue with concurrent sessions on Anaesthesia related to Trauma (Xavier Moors, Sol Soriano) or Cardiac Conditions (Dick Tibboel, Ehrenfried Schindler), followed by Quality Improvement (Dean Kurth, Paul Stricker and Elena Fernandez) or Pharmacology (paediatric intensivist and pharmacologist Saskia de Wildt, Karel Allegaert and Lonneke Staals). On Friday we start with the keynote lecture followed by session on Neuro-anaesthesia (Antonia Gonzales, Markus Klimek, Irene Mathijssen and Sol Soriano). After the lunch symposium, concurrent sessions will include the Best Abstract presentations and symposium on Education (Mathias Johansen, Mary Lane and Jonathan Smith). After the poster walk break, we have parallel session on Anaesthesia for Airway Surgery and classical session Editors Picks with selection of best papers on Paediatric Anaesthesia (Andrew Davidso), PICU (Brian Anderson) and Pain (Suellen Waker). On Saturday the main session will relate to Haemostasis (Andreas Machotta, Fany Bonhomme), followed by the always enlightening and interactive session entitled “My Worst Nightmare” which again will be led by Nigel Turner.

During the conference you are welcome to attend various (hands-on) workshops on: How to write and review a paper, Single Lung Ventilation, Sedation by the Paediatric Anaesthesiologist, Ultrasound for Loco regional Anaesthesia) in cooperation with DARA-ESRA), Big Data Analysis and Introduction in Quality Improvement.
We are pleased to include both a range of international and European anaesthesiologists a well as specialists from other fields to ensure sessions cover a range of practical management tips and cutting -edge topics, as well as summarizing the evidence-base and scientific basis for current practice. The program has also been planned to provide additional time for viewing posters as we believe this will be of great benefit for both delegates and the poster presenters, as well as additional time to visit the trade display and network with colleagues. The Social Program will include the Welcome Reception on Thursday evening, and the Conference Dinner held on Friday evening on the memorable Cruise boat SS Rotterdam (SS Rotterdam). This Grande Dame is a former ocean liner and cruise ship built in 1958 for immigrants from the Netherlands to travel across the Atlantic to the USA. It was completely restored in 2008 into its original luxurious style and now serves as a combination  museum/hotel. Furthermore, also new, you are invited to participate in a Charity Run for Lifebox (Lifebox Charity Run) on Friday-morning 7:30 – 8:30 alongside the river and 3 bridges of Rotterdam starting at the conference centre.

We are looking forward to welcome you in Rotterdam! Jurgen de Graaff (Chair Local Organizing Committee)

Francis Veyckemans (ESPA President)