THE ANIMAL EMERGENCY SERVICE IS
AN EXTENSION OF YOUR REGULAR PRACTICE

The animal emergency service is an extension of your vet's regular practice.

In the early nineties the Brisbane Veterinary Practitioners Association formed a plan to set up an emergency centre. This plan had several anticipated goals including:

Vets would not have to be on call all night after working long hours during the day. This meant that they were fresh and at their best during normal consulting hours and were able to get away from work for some "down" time. It is not possible to spend a day at work then stay up all night with a critical case and still be doing your best work the next day. The care of the animals was sometimes where the compromise was made - critically ill animals left alone in the practice for some or all of the night. The setup of an out of hours clinic also reduced burnout allowing experienced vets to stay in the workforce longer.

The advantage of having a dedicated emergency centre was that enthusiastic emergency vets could develop a particular set of skills to deal with severe emergencies and the most critical cases. A core of veterinarians at the emergency centre have invested much time and energy into developing the skills to deal with any animal emergency.

There was also the ability to set up a state of the art practice with specialized equipment not widely available in most general practices. For instance most practices would rarely use an intensive care ventilator but by concentrating all the emergencies in one specialty practice meant owning one became viable.

The Animal Emergency Service always works very closely with your regular veterinarian. This includes covering the hours when they are closed but referring the patient back to the vet for ongoing treatment and or hospitalization the following morning (Monday to Friday). A full record of the pets treatment is forwarded to your nominated veterinarian so that any required ongoing care can easily be continued by them and their medical history is complete.

Pet owners can also feel more comfortable taking their pets home after illness knowing that help is available around the clock should anything deteriorate.