In theatre
Surgical team
The team comprises a surgeon, assistant surgeon(s),
scrub nurse and support nurses
- The surgeon carries out the operation with the help of the
assistant surgeon
- The scrub nurse gets everything that will be needed for the
operation ready and acts as the liaison between the sterile
surgical team and the non-sterile support nurses
- The scrub nurse passes the required instruments and equipment
to the surgeon
Perfusionists
- They control the heart lung bypass machine, which keeps the
patients alive while the heart is stopped, in order to operate on
it
- There are always two perfusionists available for every
operation
Anaesthetic team
- They put the patient to sleep and keep them asleep during the
operation
- They also monitor and keep stable all physiologic parameters in
the patient during the operation, and administer drugs and blood
products to achieve this goal
- They are supported by highly-trained anaesthetic nurses or
operating department assistants
Cardiologists
- They refer the patients for surgery and come into the operating
room when further discussion is needed
- They also attend in the operating theatre towards the end of
the operation to perform an echocardiogram which confirms that the
operation has been successful and that the heart is working
well
