Just like in a human emergency ward, our veterinary nurses play an essential role in triaging patients. Triage involves a brief overall assessment of incoming patients to rapidly gauge the severity of their illness or injury so that we can prioritise care for particularly unwell animals during busy periods.

Our experienced nurses help triage incoming patients both over the phone and via a brief physical assessment of the patient shortly after arrival.

Phone
Wherever possible, we encourage pet owners seeking emergency pet care to phone us prior to their arrival at the clinic.

During these calls, our nurses may ask owners questions, such as:

• “Did you see your pet get injured?”
• “Is your pet able to stand and walk?”
• “Is your pet losing a significant amount of blood?”
• “Is your pet able to breathe properly?”
• “Has your pet ingested any known toxins”

These questions help us to ascertain what the problem could be, so we can prepare our facilities and staff for assisting your pet as soon as possible.

Physical check on arrival
Ideally, it’s best if someone who knows the unwell pet’s history (including any pre-existing health conditions or current medications) brings the pet into the clinic, although we understand that in an emergency this is not always possible.

Upon the pet’s arrival, a nurse will perform a brief initial physical assessment to triage the animal’s condition. Among other things, they will quickly check the pet’s ability to breathe, their circulatory status (heart rate and pulse pressure), mental awareness and pain level, and perform a quick scan for any obvious injuries or bleeding.

Based on their assessments, the nurse can then alert a veterinarian to the pet’s condition and keep the owner informed of the expected next steps.
Whilst we know that pet emergencies can be scary, rest assured that any unwell pets will get the best possible care as soon as they set paw in our clinic.