Cardiopulmonary resuscitation is the attempt to revive a patient after they have suffered a cardiac arrest. As animals are so severely unwell in this situation, CPR only has about a 6% success rate, so this is something that the veterinary profession is working to improve all the time. In Human medicine the CPR success rate is also much lower than most people think at around 10.6%. In this situation, it is vital that action is taken swiftly and with precision. It is therefore important for vets and nurses to participate in CPR scenario training so that our skills in this crucial area remain up to date.
Nicola recently attended a Young Vet Network session on this subject. The CPR evening was held in Stirling, as an opportunity for the East and West of Scotland Young Vet Network members to meet each other as well as gain valuable information. A brilliant lecture was delivered by Aoife O’Sullivan, course leader of the Vets Now Cutting Edge programme (a fantastic initiative which helps train vets looking for a career in emergency and critical care medicine). We then had a practical session, also lead by Aoife, where emergency scenarios were carried out using model dogs and cats. This was an extremely useful evening, ensuring everyone present was fully up to date in the management of cardiac arrest.