Veterinary Scene Down Under: Mobile care truck is responding to Australian disasters

A new Mobile Care Centre vehicle in South Australia is set to bolster veterinary emergency management of bushfires and other disasters. The fully-airconditioned custom-built truck is a multi-purpose resource designed to care for the carers by supporting South Australian Veterinary Emergency Management (SAVEM) volunteer veterinarians and veterinary nurses with a safe and secure base.

“This fantastic new mobile facility can be set up close to a SAVEM air shelter field hospital, so that the SAVEM Incident Management Team and the duty veterinarian can operate alongside one another and be on site 24/7, greatly increasing response effectiveness and efficiency during disaster responses,” Rachel Westcott, PhD, BSc BVMS, SAVEM coordinator and Mobile Care Centre project manager, explainedto dvm360.

“During the recovery phase of a response, the Mobile Care Centre becomes a ‘curbside’ point of contact for an affected community to access resources. A SAVEM response usually extends well into the recovery phase of other agencies, especially in a wildlife-centric response. This enables SAVEM to be ideally placed to be a visible signpost to a community, reminding them response agencies remain to help. In past emergencies, SAVEM’s visible presence over many weeks has been greatly valued by impacted people,” Westcott continued.

When not being deployed for emergency responses, the Mobile Care Centre will be used for community outreach, education and information about prevention and preparedness, for animal owners and at-risk communities. “The Mobile Care Centre has a 6 x 4 Isuzu cab chassis, is about 11metres long and is of maximum road legal height. It has a 5-station Incident Management Team room, bathroom, kitchen, a safe, a pharmacy, fridges and 2 full size bunk beds. It is fully air conditioned, the roof is covered with solar panels, and equipped with a Starlink dish for internet connectivity,” Westcott said.

“The underfloor battery bank is backed up with a large generator. Two expandable ‘pods’ extend the available room in the Incident Management Team area and in the sleeping quarters when on location. The sophisticated energy system is simple to use and is monitored remotely,” Westcott added.

The project was funded through the Australian Government’s Disaster Ready Fund, and Westcott explained that SAVEM’s Mobile Care Centre will change the way veterinary emergency management occurs in South Australia. “It will enable to SAVEM Command or Forward Command to be fully resourced and in situ in a response, whilst providing SAVEM volunteers with a safe custom-built space where hot debriefs can happen effectively, and personnel can also take breaks, greatly improving fatigue management,” Westcott said.

“It will greatly enhance communications, including enabling telehealth between field teams and the Mobile Care Centre, which will mean more animals can be managed or monitored in situ or as outpatients, improving prognoses, and freeing up hospital space.”

VetHerd here to help

Two veterinarians have developed a suicide prevention initiative for the veterinary profession, with VetHerd being a multi-faceted approach built on evidence-based principles with the goal of creating a peer-supported network of safety. “Many in the veterinary profession know that suicide is a serious issue in our sector, however, knowing about a problem isn’t the same as knowing how to help. It’s a bit like learning all about a disease in vet school, but never being taught how to manage or treat it,” Alena Gadoury BVSc (Hons I) BScN, cofounder of VetHerd, said to dvm360.

“Our vision is simple, but powerful – the veterinary community working together as a herd to protect each other from suicide. Suicide is preventable, and everyone can play a role. VetHerd offers awareness and education to reduce stigma, LivingWorks skills training to help people recognize, ask and help a person that is having thoughts of suicide; along with community connection and a network of safety so whether they are needing support or helping others, no one feels alone in navigating these challenges,” Gadoury continued.

VetHerd also incorporates research that supports suicide prevention in the veterinary profession. Gadoury has commenced a PhD project as a structured way to build a clearer picture of suicide risk and prevention in Australian veterinarians. “Collectively named the AUSVETS Study, my PhD research combines quantitative and qualitative methods and is co-produced with a lived experience advisory group, ensuring the voices of those directly affected are central to the work. By analyzing survey data on the prevalence of suicidal thoughts among Australian veterinarians, we can begin to quantify the magnitude of the problem and the need for resources and interventions,” Gadoury explained.

“Identifying the risk and protective factors allows us to identify psychosocial hazards in veterinary workplaces, which can then guide practice and policy changes. Evaluating the LivingWorks Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST) within the profession offers a practical evidence-based approach to equip veterinary professionals with skills that may help prevent suicide,” Gadoury added.

Gadoury said that although a lot of positive progress has been made in raising mental health and wellbeing awareness, talking about the topic isn’t the same as translating that awareness into meaningful, sustainable action. “Suicide is a complex issue, and the research consistently shows it’s never caused by a single factor. The same is true for our profession, the role of a veterinarian is incredibly complex, and mental health challenges are often layered, and may be shaped by the culture, stigma, resources, access to support, and systemic pressures. So, when we ask, ‘how big is the problem’ we need to look beyond just the prevalence rates, and consider how well equipped we are as individuals and as a profession to recognize, respond, support, and prevent the challenges we face in the workplace,” Gadoury said.

“That said, there is a passion of efforts across the sector, from independent clinics to corporate groups, charities, associations, government bodies, and beyond. However, when these initiatives happen in isolation, combined with the heterogeneity in the available data, it’s difficult to fully understand the problem or measure the impact of what’s being done, what should be considered, and where we can go to next. That’s where the outcome of my research aims to play a role, hopefully helping us move from siloed insights to a more evidenced-informed picture,” Gadoury added.

Gadoury’s involvement in mental health, wellbeing, and suicide prevention stems from several deeply personal experiences. She explained that whilst the VetHerd initiative is only recent, it has already made an impact.

“This journey has been shaped by personal and professional experiences with the drive to create both a top down and a bottom-up approach to suicide prevention. To move from silence and stigma towards understanding, connection and action,” Gadoury said.

“Having co-founded VetHerd with veterinarian Kat Williams, BVSc (Hons), BPsySc, who has shared a similar journey, it’s been wonderful for us both to have already heard of the impact of our efforts and the training, with participants using the skills to support friends, colleagues and clients,” Gadoury concluded.

Vedi launches Sidekick

Australian vet-tech company Vedi has launched veterinary AI scribe Sidekick, which integrates directly with a veterinary clinic’s Practice Information Management System (PIMS) through Vedi’s existing health record infrastructure.

“Sidekick is different from other AI scribes because it doesn’t work in isolation, it works within Vedi’s universal health record. Most AI scribes simply transcribe what is said in the consult and replace it with an AI-generated summary. They only see a snapshot in time. Sidekick does the opposite,” Ross Wyness, chief executive officer of Vedi, explained to dvm360.

“Because Sidekick runs inside Vedi, it has access to clinical context that standalone tools simply can’t see – including notes written by any team member in the last 24 hours, recent diagnostics and history, all records tied to the pet’s microchip for accuracy and traceability, and PIMS data – for supported systems,” Wyness added.

Wyness said that the way Sidekick has been developed allows the AI scribe to generate summaries that reflect the whole patient story, not just the consult conversation. “It gives vets richer insights, better continuity of care, and fewer gaps or misunderstandings between team members. Other AI scribes help you generate consult notes faster, but Sidekick helps your entire clinic work smarter, because it’s powered by the only platform built to unify veterinary health data, not just record it. It's also built for collaboration. Every note your team records for the patient in the last 24 hours, from quick nurse observations to more detailed vet notes, whether spoken or typed, is automatically collated into one summary,” Wyness said.

“And because Vedi keeps the original transcription and the generated summary fully accessible to all clinic staff, nothing is ever lost or overwritten. Every word remains accessible for transparency, continuity, and audit purposes, giving clinicians full trust in the record. Sidekick ties each summary to the pet’s microchip, ensuring accuracy and preventing mix-ups between patients. Whether you’re using a mobile device or working from your desktop, you can capture consults effortlessly and get back to caring for the animal in front of you,” Wyness continued.

For veterinary clinics using supported PIMS platforms, Sidekick can automatically surface the most recent data from the pet’s record such as patient profile information and diagnostics. “This means Sidekick doesn’t operate in isolation. It works from the full clinical picture, not just what was said in the room, allowing it to generate summaries that are richer, more accurate, and more clinically useful,” Wyness said.

Vedi’s goal is a fully connected veterinary ecosystem where data flows securely between the people who need it, reducing administration, improving clinical decisions, and creating better outcomes for pets. “For clinics using other PIMS systems, Sidekick still functions as part of Vedi’s universal health record. Vedi keeps a time-stamped record of all notes entered in the platform, and Sidekick uses this to produce contextual summaries that support continuity of care, team collaboration, and cross-platform consistency. Clinics can then simply copy and paste the summaries into their PIMS, or send them directly to other veterinarians, referral specialists or pet parents,” Wyness added.