Your anesthesia care team

A Certified Anesthesiologist Assistant (CAA) is a highly trained anesthesia professional who works under the direction of a physician anesthesiologist. CAAs are part of the Anesthesia Care Team, the group of professionals who plan and deliver your anesthesia, and they practice only within that team.

Your physician anesthesiologist leads your care. A physician anesthesiologist is a medical doctor who specializes in anesthesia, pain management and critical care, and who leads the Anesthesia Care Team. Before your procedure, your physician anesthesiologist and the rest of the team, including the CAA, review your health history and plan your anesthesia together.

In Colorado, a CAA works only under the direct supervision of a physician anesthesiologist licensed in this state. The physician anesthesiologist must stay immediately available throughout your anesthesia, close enough to return to you right away if needed.

Yes. Colorado law requires that you, or your representative, be told when a CAA is involved in your care. You are always welcome to ask your anesthesia team who will be with you during your procedure and what each person's role is.

Working with your physician anesthesiologist, a CAA may:

• Review your health history and examine you before anesthesia
• Help plan your anesthesia as part of the team
• Place your monitors and IV
• Help start your anesthesia, keep it steady during your procedure, and wake you up afterward
• Manage your breathing and airway
• Watch your heart rate, blood pressure, breathing and oxygen levels throughout
• Stay with you into recovery and hand over your care

What a CAA does in your case is directed by your physician anesthesiologist, within Colorado law and the hospital's own rules.

CAAs complete a premedical college education, the same science courses taken by students applying to medical school, and then a master's degree from an accredited anesthesiologist assistant program. These programs take 24 to 28 months and combine classroom study with extensive hands-on clinical training in the operating room.

Yes. To practice, a CAA must pass a national certifying examination given by the National Commission for Certification of Anesthesiologist Assistants (NCCAA). To stay certified, CAAs complete continuing medical education every two years and pass a recertification exam, first four years after certifying and then every ten years.

In Colorado, CAAs are also licensed by the Colorado Medical Board. Anyone can check a CAA's license using DORA's license lookup.

Both are highly trained anesthesia professionals who can be members of the Anesthesia Care Team, and the American Society of Anesthesiologists considers their patient care responsibilities within the team to be the same. The main difference is background: CAAs come from a premedical science education, while nurse anesthetists are nurses who go on to anesthesia training. CAAs always work under the direction of a physician anesthesiologist.

A physician anesthesiologist is a medical doctor who has completed medical school and a residency in anesthesiology. A CAA has a master's degree in anesthesia and works under the physician anesthesiologist's direction. Together they make up the Anesthesia Care Team, with the physician anesthesiologist leading.

CAAs have been licensed in Colorado since 2013 and work in hospitals and surgery centers across the state, from the Denver metro area to Colorado Springs, Pueblo and Durango, including in children's hospitals.

Your anesthesia team, and your physician anesthesiologist in particular. They are the best people to answer questions about your own health, your procedure and your anesthesia plan. If you have a concern about a licensed health professional, the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies accepts complaints about licensed providers.