2022 Distinguished Service Award Recipient

Dr. Edward Crosby from the Ottawa Hospital

The Ontario’s Anesthesiologists Distinguished Service Award is awarded to an anesthesiologist for outstanding contributions to patient care. It is the highest honour our organization can bestow. We are proud to recognize Dr. Edward Crosby with the 2022 Distinguished Service Award.

Dr. Crosby is a full Professor of Anesthesiology at the University of Ottawa and practices at the Ottawa Hospital. His recent research, publication and presentation interests have included exploring the role of evidence in deriving strategies for airway management, developing evidence-based guidelines for airway management, and outlining risk factors for harm related to airway care. He has also reviewed and provided commentary on the interaction of medicine with the law both nationally and internationally. He was a member of the CPMA Council for 15 years and has served as both the President of the CMPA and the Chair of the Council.

Throughout Dr. Crosby’s career, he has shown an exceptional commitment to advancing the safety and efficacy of patient care at both the system and individual levels. As a passionate advocate for patient safety, his extraordinary contributions to the field of Anesthesia and Medicine have impacted all Canadians.

During his time with the CMPA, he oversaw the drafting and implementation of its new strategic plan, which included “A Safe Medical Care Program to teach the institutions and their leaders how to reduce harm and, in so doing, improve the working environment for physicians and other healthcare providers.” This program has become one of the most effective of its kind globally.

Under his strong leadership as Chair of the Expert Working Group at the Canadian Blood Services, guidelines were developed that provided evidence for and endorsed Canadian physicians' constrained use of blood products. The guidelines were ground-breaking at the time and resulted in a significant reduction in unnecessary transfusion of blood and blood products to patients.

Dr. Crosby was the founding Medical Director of the Anesthesia Pre-Operative Assessment Unit at the Ottawa General Hospital and co-directed the creation and implementation of an adverse event reporting system for anesthesiologists.

Among anesthesiologists, Dr. Crosby is perhaps best known as an internationally recognized expert in airway management and for his lead role in creating the 1998 article entitled The Unanticipated Difficult Airway with Recommendations for Management. This document has formed the basis for difficult airway management in Canada and abroad. Dr. Crosby once again joined a group of experts in 2021 to update these guidelines further showing his continued contribution to this field. He has published multiple papers and book chapters and has delivered international presentations on airway management.

Dr. Crosby has become a widely respected and influential role model to many colleagues and residents. Dr. Crosby’s depth of knowledge, experience, and remarkable ability to analyze complex problems have and continue to benefit his colleagues, to whom he continues to be a humble mentor and a source of sage advice for clinical and administrative challenges.

Thank you, Dr. Crosby, for your distinguished service to the profession. We congratulate you for all your outstanding achievements and are thrilled to honour your work with our 2022 Distinguished Service Award.