Episode 8: Five mistakes to avoid in the veterinary ER

Practicing for 15 years and counting, Kristin Welch, DVM, DACVECC, critical care specialist at the Charleston Veterinary Referral Center in South Carolina, talks about how to avoid five common mistakes veterinarians make in the emergency room.

Poor communication with both clients and staff, ranked at the top of her list, can have potential serious detrimental effects on emergent patients, Dr. Welch says. One way to avoid this is to make sure a complete medical history is obtained. To avoid verbal transmission errors, she also recommends using closed-loop communication with team members, in which the team member repeats the request before acting on it to ensure it was heard correctly.

“So if you ask somebody for 15 mg of prednisone and they hear 50 mg of prednisone, that obviously could be a life or death situation,” Dr. Welch says.

Additionally, she breaks down the concept of shock fluids, why steroids are not for everyone, why you should be cautious when using NSAIDs, and why you should avoid shotgun therapy.

Listen in to learn more about these common ER mistakes and how to prevent them.