Figure 83-8 A test of the anesthetist's vigilance. Shown is the mean reaction time of novice residents and experienced anesthetists in response to the illumination of a red light placed next to the electrocardiogram monitor display during actual ambulatory surgery procedures. In both groups the reaction was faster in the maintenance phase than during induction of anesthesia. Novices reacted significantly more slowly than did experienced anesthetists. Because the distribution of reaction times was skewed and non-gaussian, error bars are not shown, and nonparametric statistics were used for hypothesis testing.