Understanding the technician's role in a diabetic emergency case

What is the veterinary technician’s role in caring for patients with diabetic emergencies? Melissa Evans, CVT, LVT, VTS (ECC), owner of Melissa Evans, VTS (ECC): Veterinary Nurse Consulting, discussed the hands on work required of technicians in a dvm360 interview at the 2025 Fetch dvm360 Conference in Kansas City, Missouri.

Evans is an experienced emergency, intensive care unit, and critical care technician with additional experience in shelter, wildlife, and disaster medicine. She is a RECOVER CPR–certified instructor who has worked in referral and specialty hospitals in New Jersey and New York. Evans is also a relief technician for specialty hospitals throughout New York, New York.

At the Fetch conference, Evans presented a series of continuing education sessions, including on focused on diabetic emergencies. In the session, she discussed common emergency diabetic conditions and the role of veterinary technicians in providing nursing care. In this video, she describes the tasks that technicians are responsible for in these cases.

The following is a transcript of the video:

Melissa Evans, CVT, LVT, VTS (ECC): We do so much of the hands on work with these patients and the ones that need to be hospitalized are often hospitalized for an extended period of time. So once they are stabilized, we are the ones monitoring them, making sure that their blood glucose stays within the range that it's supposed to, making sure that if it's not, we are changing the dosage of their insulin [constant rate infusions] (CRIs) or their dextrose CRIs, adding any supplementation. They sometimes have electrolyte abnormalities that need to be dealt with, so we're adjusting that supplementation as well doing all the hands on work that the doctor has put on their treatment sheet and just the general tender loving care, nursing care that they need.

For more coverage of the Fetch Kansas City conference, visit the dvm360 conference news page. You can also learn more and register for the 2026 Fetch dvm360 Conference in Kansas City here.

Reference

1. Evans M, Crossley KC. Identifying diabetic emergencies. dvm360. September 3, 2025. Accessed September 23, 2025. https://www.dvm360.com/view/identifying-diabetic-emergencies