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Intensive Care Unit
What is an ICU?
An intensive care unit, or ICU, is found in both human and veterinary hospitals. ICUs provide an extended number and type of services for animals that have been determined to be more critical than those with mild illness. Even if a particular pet itself is not in critical condition, at times the additional resources and staff of an ICU can lead to more efficient diagnostics and treatment in these patients.
AHSC's ICU is run by our board certified emergency and critical care specialist, Dr. Geoff Heffner. Dr. Heffner has advanced training and experience managing a number of very critical cases. These include post-operative recovery, lung and respiratory disease stabilization, toxicity management, poly trauma, blood transfusion support and dialysis therapy.
Continue reading more below about critical care below or follow the link above to learn more about our criticalist, Dr. Geoff Heffner.
The Role of a Veterinary Criticalist
The American College of Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care is a relatively new addition to the specialties and sub-specialties currently available to the veterinary profession. Specialists in this field require additional, rigorous education after graduating from an accredited veterinary school. They must undergo a one-year internship followed by an additional 3-years of training focusing on the most up-to-date techniques for diagnosis and treatment of life-threatening disease processes. This intensive program is referred to as a residency.
As an evolving specialty, our objective is to provide continuous therapy to those animals that are stricken by severe disease. Some illnesses may require several days of therapy before improvement occurs. During this time, close monitoring and supportive measures in the intensive care unit may be required to bridge the gap between the initial hospital visit and recovery.
Veterinary criticalists frequently act as directors of the entire emergency service. They provide thorough oversight for emergency doctors and technicians through individual case rounds, lectures, wet-labs and direct mentorship, thereby elevating the quality of care provided to patients 24 hours a day.
As medicine becomes more and more advanced, a veterinary criticalist is becoming an integral part of any referral and emergency center. Animals hospitalized in the intensive care unit have very serious and potentially life-threatening diseases. Providing state-of-the-art care and ensuring seamless integration all hospital services gives your pet every advantage to recover during this crucial period of time.