A Veterinarian Clinic Should Always Put Safety First
Healthcare is a noble profession, whether caring for animals or humans. Sadly, it does however place the individuals giving that care in sometimes awkward and dangerous, if not disgusting circumstances. Bodily fluids are a major concern, when it comes to healthcare, particularly in the case of emergency care. One of the first things that emergency care workers learn is the proper use of and requirements, for personal protective safety equipment.
PPE - Personal Protective Equipment
When taking the exam for a position as an emergency medical care certified by the national registry, any individual not stating “PPE” before beginning an exercise is already automatically doomed. Safety first is one of the most important and most stressed lessons, in healthcare training. You protect yourself first, then your partner, then your patient. That’s just the way it’s supposed to go. Now in an emergency situation, caution is sometimes thrown to the wind. That is the choice of the individual in question and is neither recommended nor supported. When it comes to the protection of health care workers during the care of our beloved pets, it’s no different. When an animal is sick or feels endangered, they can be dangerous. The most docile little dog can go Cujo, in an instant given the right circumstances. How do veterinarians protect themselves against this and other animal care considerations?
A List Of Safety Equipment
Here are just a few things that may be included on the list of veterinary safety equipment for the veterinary individual themselves:
- safety glasses to protect eyes from blood and saliva splatter (this can also include full face shields)
- masks and respirators should the animal have come into contact with a highly volatile chemical compound
- plastic gloves to help protect against diseases possibly transmitted through bodily fluids
- head covers, gowns, and shoe covers may be worn in an effort to protect the individual’s clothing from stains and again, bodily fluids
Some Safety Equipment Is Not for Reuse
Much of the equipment considered personal protective gear is disposable. It is meant to be that way for a reason. Once many of these pieces of equipment are exposed to a contaminant, they are no longer safe to reuse. Even personal respirators have disposable parts (such as filters) that should be replaced, for each and every use. Professional eye goggles are less disposable than the full plastic face shields, which include masks and an elastic band that goes around the back of the head. This is why they preferred by some workers and institutions.
And, gloves should never, ever be worn, for more than one patient at a time. If you are working on an individual and have to leave the room, the gloves should be disposed of, before leaving the room and new gloves should be applied, upon your return.
Start An Online Pet Lovers Group With Online Chat Rooms
Oh my, how we do love our pets. Whereas some people pull an entire photo album out of their wallets of their children, we pet lovers are never without a picture or 5 or 10 of our beloved dogs, cats, birds, ferrets or even iguanas. People with dogs in particular, enjoy getting together in playgroups, where the animals can all frolic together and the people can sit around and have snacks, coffee and conversation. It’s a great chance to show off your little four-legged friend.
Smile for the Video Camera Fido
In this day and age of computer technology, we can talk to people without having to be in the same room with them. Moreover, we can actually talk to them and see them at the same time thanks to Video Chat. There are a number of sites that offer this and some of them are free of charge. Imagine being able to talk to another pet lover, with this option and holding your pet on your lap, so that you can each see each other’s little bundle of joy – albeit feathered, furry, scaly or what have you. Now you can show off your little dog’s newest outfit, show the scar from his latest surgery, model his new haircut… You name it. Some of these video chats can even be done via smart phone, if you don’t happen to have your laptop with you at the time. This is great for people who are constantly on the go and take their pet with them at every given opportunity.
Get Face-To-Face Advice
This face-to-face video chat is a great opportunity as well, to share information that you may need about a certain pet, a disease, or other type of situation. If you’re close with your doctor of veterinary medicine, you may even be able to bring them up in a video chat and show them firsthand a problem with your pet, without having to visit the vet in person. In fact video doctoring is probably not too very far off in the future. Imagine being able to use your PayPal account or plunk down a credit card and have a face-to-face chat with your doctor rather than waiting for an appointment, driving across town, sitting in a waiting room and all the rest of the fun stuff that goes along with a visit to your doctor.
Of course then you’ll have to buy your own issue of People magazine, but there are always free subscriptions to magazines online.
Protecting Everyone in Your Auto Including Your Pet
Your family is your most precious possession. Your children, spouse, even friends and pets all rely on you to get them from one place to another safely and it is a responsibility you take seriously. Since they are so important, you really need to go out of your way to make sure that anytime someone is in your car, they are as safe as possible, even your pet.
Dangerous
There are few things more scary to a parent than seeing a car on the road with a child roaming free in the back. Not only is this illegal in almost every state, it is extremely dangerous for everyone in the car. The child can be seriously injured or killed if there happens to be an accident but even if there isn’t, the child can prove to be a major distraction for the driver. The same can be said of free roaming pets. Many times you see drivers with their small pets on their laps or even running around in the back of the car.
Keeping Them Safe
When it comes to keeping everyone in your vehicle safe, it really is common sense. Always use a seat belt when driving, even if you are just going down the street. If you are taking a pet with you, take a kennel or cage to keep it in. Nothing should be roaming around while the car is in motion. Never get behind the wheel when you are impaired, even the slightest bit. When you are driving, pay close attention to the road and don’t let your focus drift. Again, using a bit of common sense really will get you far.
When you take on the responsibility of driving someone from one place to another, even your pet to the vet, you need to take that responsibility very seriously. Keeping everyone in your car safe isn’t at all hard and it really is something that can’t be taken lightly. By making sure that everyone is safe before you even turn the key, you can be celebrating birthdays with each other for years to come.
Should You Buy Health Insurance for Your Pet?
Have you ever gone to the vet recently, with your dog or cat, for a check up? Pet care can sometimes be just as expensive as a regular doctor’s office visit, for a human. Then, when you start talking about anything more extensive that needs to be done like x-rays, blood work, stool sample analysis, and follow up medications, your costs start to go into the hundreds of dollars. For those pet owners, who feel their pet is part of the family, the costs are just as serious, as if one of their own children had come down sick. But when your pet has given you such unconditional love it is a cost that we bi-peds are willing to sacrifice, if it will make our furry faced friends feel better. More and more information is becoming available for health insurance, for your pet. You may have even already seen the literature, at your veterinarian or pet store. Just like medical costs for us that are increasing, veterinary medical costs are also increasing, with the sophistication of the veterinary medical profession.
Benefits to Pet Insurance
Again, think of it in terms of humans. If you are a healthy adult and you buy health insurance, you probably will pay out your monthly premium and not utilize your health insurance very often. So for pet owners, it would not be too beneficial cost wise, to pay out for a healthy pet. If you have a pet and your pet suffers from frequent ailments, the cost effectiveness becomes more significant. And if your pet suffers from more serious conditions, the pet health insurance becomes extremely beneficial, in offsetting the veterinary costs. If you choose to have pet health insurance, find a policy that is easy to understand and not filled with language that needs to be interpreted. Make sure the policy is comprehensive, for your needs. Don’t wait until an emergency arises, to discover the money you have been paying out does not meet the needs you were expecting.
Is There an Alternative?
Just because you decide not to have medical insurance for your pet does not mean you don’t love them. If you lay out a monthly budget, for regular expenses, start to set a little aside each month for pet medical, also. This way, should something unforeseen come up, you have the money at your disposal for pet necessities like office visits, injuries and medications (online Canadian Pharmacy has many low cost medications). Your monthly budget also allows you the flexibility and control for other emergencies that come up and you can move the funds around, in your budget, so that you are not locked into paying out, for something you haven’t been using.
No matter if you decide to carry a policy of pet insurance or not, always look to what is in the best interest of you, your family and your pet.
Best Team Mascots
During the season you will see a lot of team mascots on the sidelines, courts and fields of colleges and universities. Some are memorable and even a few are legendary and some, not so much. During the game most mascots are sidelined but halftime is their time and some of the best really know how to take over the limelight and get the fans involved in the action.
Zeke the Wonder Dog
When it comes to mascots, Zeke the wonder dog might be one of the most famous. Zeke is a Frisbee catching phenomenon who appeared first in 1977 and was so popular he received a letter from his school Michigan State University. The second Zeke was actually the only female dog to hold the honor her name was an anagram of Zeke, Keze. Zeke II was the longest performing animal, a black Labrador, Zeke II debuted in 2002. The current mascot Zeke the III is actually the fourth dog to hold this honor. This incarnation is actually a yellow Labrador retriever.
Rameses the Ram
The UNC Tarheels have a second mascot possibly because a Tarheel isn’t really easy to represent as a mascot. Rameses the Ram is horned Dorset sheep whose horns are painted Carolina blue on game day. As special as the real sheep is a student who performed as the indoor Rameses the Ram in costume was even more incredible. Honor student Jason Ray donned the Rameses mascot costume before he was tragically struck and killed right before a basketball game outside of the team hotel. His family donated his organs and Jason was able to save four people with his gift of life.
Military Mascots
The Navy has their goat, the Army has their mules and the Air Force has a Falcon. This high flying mascot is the perfect representative of the Air Force however once during a game the Falcon flew away. Luckily, he was able to be located due to a homing device on his foot.
Team mascots can be as much a part of the team as the players on the court and field. You won’t see any live animals at the upcoming NCAA Basketball Tournament since they are better suited to outdoor events. But the indoor mascots are also great at getting the crowd into the game. If you attend march madness betting on a good time, you won’t be let down.