emergency | Horse Racing Free Tips

A Focused Strategy Needed To Prevent Veterinarian Burnout

Many veterinarians feel pressured to be on call for their clients round the clock, especially if they're one of the only equine caretakers in the area. Vets are often called out for an after-hours “emergency” that turns out to be a non-life threatening situation that could have been resolved during normal business hours. That constant hustle is taking its toll on many veterinarians, so many are trying to provide guidance on how to reduce burnout.

EquiManagement suggests there are some ways to alleviate this near-constant pressure, including working for (or opening) a multi-doctor clinic or collaborating with other practices in the area to share the on-call burden. Young veterinarians are often eager to take on emergency cases and the sharing of the caseload offers older vets a unique opportunity to mentor younger colleagues.

Additionally, being forthcoming with clients about professional boundaries can assist vets in regaining a work-life balance. While discussing new “office hours” for an equine veterinarian may feel uncomfortable in an already-established practice, loyal clients often stay loyal – they just want to be kept in the loop. Offering customers alternatives should be a priority; this could be as simple as providing phone numbers for another veterinarian who is available for after-hours care. Adjusting the time in which a vet practices (which might include later openings and closings) is another option to remain available for clients, yet regain the opportunity for some down time.

The option to treat only equine emergencies is another possibility to avoid burnout. After-hours emergency care is often more financially lucrative than dealing only with cases seen during the day.

Seeking to educate owners on what a true emergency is can also go a long way to alleviating the possibility of burnout for veterinarians in general. An emergency situation is scary for many owners; reassuring clients that reaching out via text, email or phone call is always OK leaves them feeling less alone.

Virtual Conference Focused On Disasters And Animals

The inaugural Global Animal Disaster Management Conference (GADMC) will be held on Feb. 15 through 24. It will bring together 50 experts from 16 countries together virtually to discuss considerations specific to animals during natural disasters.

Organized by Animal Evac New Zealand (https://www.animalevac.nz/), the free conference will include panels with leading animal emergency and disaster researchers, as well as with practitioners and academics. There will be both live and recorded webinars; recordings of the presentations will be available on the conference webpage by mid-2021. An audio-only, call-in option is also available.

The conference is geared toward emergency personnel, veterinary and wildlife professionals, farmers, those involved in rescue, and policy and law makers.

Equine-specific presenters include:

Dr. Leslie Irvine is a sociology professor and Director of the Animals and Society Certificate Program at the University of Colorado-Boulder. She has done extensive research on equine evacuation and Hurricane Katrina formed the basis for her book, Filling the Ark: Animal Welfare in Disasters.
Rebecca Husted, owner of Technical Large Animal Emergency Rescue, offers training in large animal emergency rescue across the United States and abroad. She will provide a technical review of case studies of Large Animal Rescue on Feb. 16.
Dr. Susan Raymond and Victor MacPherson from Equine Guelph will present on Large Animal Rescue and Livestock Emergency Response Training and Best Practices on Feb. 24.

The post Virtual Conference Focused On Disasters And Animals appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Certificate Program To Assist Vets, Local Authorities During Disasters

Veterinarians rely heavily on first responders during national disasters, where hundreds or thousands of animals can be impacted. There is no training offered to vets for emergency planning or response at the local level; the vets often must rely solely on emergency management, extension agents and animal control officers to put a plan of action in place

Vets who volunteer as part of a local or regional disaster response team are often are frustrated with their inability to help immediately upon arrival. To streamline the process and build on the American Veterinary Medical Association's (AVMA) legacy in disaster relief, a certificate program for veterinary first responders is being created.

The American Veterinary Medical Foundation will provide $80,000 in funding for the program. The AVMA Committee on Disaster and Emergency Issues (CDEI) will identify competencies every vet responder should have. From there, organizations, including the AVMA and veterinary schools, can develop new or modify existing courses to satisfy one or more of the core competencies required for certificate completion.

The program will be overseen by Dr. Warren J. Hess, an assistant director in the AVMA Division of Animal and Public Health, who also serves as the AVMA's disaster coordinator. Hess noted that some vet schools are already providing disaster response training.

The program is expected to be fully operational by Spring 2022. Once a veterinarian or vet student completes courses that meet all core competencies, they will be issued the Basic Veterinary Responder Certificate. This certificate will reassure state and local agencies that the vets providing assistance at the scene of a disaster have the education and training required to work well within the response network.

Ring Ring: New Resources For Vet Clinics Taking After-Hours Colic Calls

Telephone triage is a critical part of modern patient care in both humans and horses. A British study explored how suspected colic cases called into a veterinarian's office were handled; from there the research team created resources to support decision making.

Drs. Katie Lightfoot, John Burford, Gary England, Mark Bowen and Sarah Freeman created an online survey targeting veterinary practices that took calls from horse owners outside of normal work hours. The team used 116 responses in their analysis: half were from veterinary surgeons, a quarter of responders were members of client care teams, 18 percent were management staff and 4 percent were veterinary nurses.

Of the group, management and client care staff felt less confident offering advice to owners and recognizing critical colic indicators, though they were the ones most likely to answer after-hours emergency colic calls. People in these roles often would not offer advice to horse owners who called the clinic, stating that it was not their role to provide suggestions. Often, information that could affect the speediness of treatment were not asked, like those dealing with equine insurance or transportation to a clinic.

The research team then created evidence-based materials that provide current information about colic and support decision-making made by those taking the calls. The materials included a form for recording information from clients and a flow chat for decision making.

Client care teams were then recruited to employ the new resources and provide feedback. The four teams used worked for East Midlands veterinary practices; they were interviewed before they used the resources and six months after their implementation. All teams reported that the information and resources were helpful, and that they had increased confidence in recognizing critical colic cases and offering owners advice.

The success of the standardization of call response led the researchers to suggest that more should be done to ensure veterinary team members were supported for after-hours emergency calls, including by implementing formal training and standardized protocols. They also acknowledged that some barriers to implementation would include the use of computerized booking systems, practice protocol and owner familiarity may be barriers to implementation.

The resources are available for free through the British Equine Veterinary Association website; they can be used in their current form or adapted to suit other requirements.

Read the full study here.