Emergency Care

Best Medicine for Emergency Care – Why it’s worth the drive

You need a 24-hour facility when your pet has a true emergency.

Let us explain why.

• True emergencies cannot be addressed in a short visit. In the old model of veterinary medicine where the local veterinarian met the client and patient at the facility after hours, which is still practiced in some places today, the veterinarian would assess the patient and then prescribe medication or perform a procedure, and then immediately go back to bed so they could rest before the next workday. This meant that the client either had to take home an ill/injured pet or the pet was left unattended in the hospital. The best way to avoid this dangerous situation is to have a pet go to a true 24-hour emergency facility. Our closest is Animal Emergency and Surgical Center, which is about 35 minutes from our parking lot unless there is a traffic issue. (Coincidentally, our doctors live about 20 minutes from our clinic, so once we get the kids in the car or find a babysitter and drive there, the wait time for the client would be about the same.)
• Once there, there is a full team of veterinary professionals operating at full capacity around the clock. This means that the staff is ready, the machines are warmed up and ready, and the patient is under full observation and can receive any treatments necessary immediately. Again, to reference the old manner of emergency visits, this is much better than the scene where the client has to assist the doctor in restraint in order to obtain bloodwork, set catheters, or take radiographs. The safety liability alone is too great for this type of veterinary medicine at this time.
• The other wonderful thing about the newer model of emergency care is that all of the veterinary staff are rotated on shifts. This ensures that all staff are getting adequate rest and are able to function at their highest capacity. I recall when I used to do emergency work, and I would often get called in twice in one night. The next day, I would be so exhausted that I could barely make it through my routine appointments. This is not the safest way for any veterinarian to function.
• While we don’t wish to make this about us, we do want to make a quick note about the safety issues in regard to after our emergency visits. We often don’t know the client calling in for an emergency. On one particular evening, sparing details, one of our female doctors became at great risk at the hands of two middle-aged men. This is another factor in why we have opted to discontinue our emergency services at this time.
• Veterinary medicine is constantly changing and adapting, and as parents who have taken their babies to the OKC Children’s Hospital in the middle of the night, we know how long that drive can feel. And we have been grateful for the doctors there to help us, as well as their excellent record transfer back to my pediatrician the next morning.
• The 24-hour emergency hospitals that we work with are excellent at working with our local clinics and do a speedy job of getting us the records that we need to help you the following morning.

Please know that the decision that we have made to not attend emergencies after hours is one that still weighs heavily on our hearts. But upon reflection on what is best for the pets and safety overall, we feel that it is impossible to conclude anything except that a 24-hour facility is the best medicine.

We hope that our town gets to the point where we are able to support a 24-hour facility, but that time is not yet here. Until then, we are grateful to know that we have a neighboring town that has a wonderful team to help.