Our vet Gina (who you may recall did a client talk on pet CPR recently) spent this Wednesday further honing her skills at an Emergency and Critical Care conference hosted by VetsNow in Glasgow.
Whilst the topics of fluid therapy for patients in shock and decontamination of patients exposed to toxins were a good refresher of topics Gina was already well versed in, she was particularly interested in a lecture on the use of ultrasound imaging to quickly triage cases of chest or abdomen traumas: rapidly detecting conditions such as pneumothorax (air in the chest where it shouldn’t be) pleural effusions (fluid in the chest where it shouldnt be) and pulmonary contusions (bruising of the lungs).
By definition, emergency and critical care work involves working with some of the poorliest patients. Its a difficult fight and we are always greatful to learn new techniques and approaches: with a critically ill patient it always pays to have extra tricks up our sleeves in order to help us reach a diagnosis and allow best management of your pets condition.
Other topics covered included the identification and treatment of brain injuries (often seen with road traffic accidents or altercations between pets) and blood transfusion.
Gina enjoyed her day of learning, and whilst she hopes none of our lovely patients at Westport ever need her to use these skills and knowledge, shes glad to have them in her arsenal; just in case.