Cognitive aids are designed to prompt users to complete a series of tasks and can take many different forms. We have designed a series of cognitive aids for congenital cardiac anesthesia for common and uncommon scenarios to try to capture experience and wisdom not published elsewhere. Congenital cardiac anesthesia involves taking care of very complex patients in many rare and challenging scenarios. Each individual cardiac anesthesiologist may only experience one or two of these emergency situations in a career. And for individuals who are training, our colleagues starting out in practice, or for those who have a low patient volume of cardiac anesthesia this resource may be invaluable. However, for even the most experienced amongst us, it can be helpful to review these aids to ensure that nothing has been forgotten. These cognitive aids are meant as a supplement to good clinical decision making, existing knowledge, and local experience. We encourage you to use them and to help us grow this resource over time. We have tried to be as accurate and complete as possible. However, if you notice any omissions or inaccuracies, please let us know so we can update the cards accordingly.

Thank you for downloading these cards. We encourage you to print, laminate, and post these in your operating rooms, cardiac cath labs, and other areas where you take care of patients with congenital heart disease.