Pioneering animal CPR course is a life-saver
THE head of nursing services at a renowned Runcorn animal hospital is spearheading a new initiative in the UK to teach veterinary colleagues how to perform life-saving CPR on dogs and cats.
Kathryn Latimer Jones, who works at Linnaeusowned Northwest Veterinary Specialists (NWVS), spent two days training nurses and vets to become RECOVER CPR Rescuers.
She was joined in conducting the training by fellow CPR instructor Emily Thomas, a specialist in emergency and critical care at fellow Linnaeusowned animal hospital DWR Veterinary Specialists in Cambridgeshire.
Colleagues travelled from Scotland and County Durham, as well as those based at NWVS, to be upskilled in the latest cardiopulmonary resuscitation techniques.
Kathryn said: “The course teaches a specific set of guidelines to aim for successful CPR across the veterinary world.
“The first day involved training eight veterinary professionals to become certified rescuers. They then used the second day to pass on their knowledge to many members of the team at NWVS, including other vets, nurses, receptionists, patient care assistants, pharmacy assistants and sonographers, before heading back to their own practices.
“Feedback has been positive and we are creating a team of proactive and confident individuals so when patients suffer an arrest, we can ensure the best possible outcomes.”
Kathryn herself become a CPR instructor after two days’ training in Sweden and has subsequently carried out emergency CPR on dogs and cats.
She is also keen to praise Sophie Adamantos, clinical director at fellow Linnaeus referral centre Paragon Veterinary Referrals, as the project was her initial idea to train associates within Linnaeus to RECOVER standard.
Kathryn added: “Unfortunately, courses are not run frequently and are rarely available in the UK, which prompted myself and Emily, with backing from Sophie, to see if we could upskill the teams in the north who were responsible for training in their hospitals. We also wanted to create a network of like-minded people who can work together to create training resources and talk about their experiences in practice.”
NWVS is one of the UK’s leading specialist-led animal hospitals. It offers care in anaesthesia and analgesia, diagnostic imaging, internal medicine, neurology and neurosurgery, oncology, orthopaedics and soft tissue surgery.
For more information visit www.nwspecialists.com or search for Northwest Veterinary Specialists on social media.