The latest FREE emergency & critical care resources for the veterinary industry.
The well-known vet exclusive resource dubbed VetAPedia has now landed itself a new home; leaving Animal Emergency Service’s website and setting up shop at www.vetapedia.com.au.
Originally envisioned as a place to share free veterinary content with other Australian vets, in less than a year the online platform has gained worldwide membership and interest; sparking the company to separate it from the Animal Emergency Service brand.
“We wanted to bring everyone into our treatment rooms. To give out our protocols on dealing with critical cases – let’s just say, an isolated vet in the middle of country Australia who has a diabetic ketoacidosis case on their hands; to give them some guidance,” says Dr Rob Webster, founder of Animal Emergency Service and the leader of the team who invented the VetAPedia concept.
“But now, we are being inundated with emails from overseas. Vets are telling us that they need emergency and critical care resources, and they need them fast. It’s become bigger than we ever imagined and it’s no longer an Animal Emergency Service resource,” continues Dr Webster.
“It’s a shared collaboration by emergency and critical care vets everywhere, something that belongs to the vet profession as a whole – and not just in Australia.”
The Australian bushfire crisis – an example of the veterinary industry coming together
Such an example of the veterinary profession coming together was during Australia’s bushfire crisis; when veterinary colleagues from overseas and in Australia banded together to treat Australia’s perishing wildlife.
Dr Steven Epstein and Dr Kate Hopper from UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine urgently obtained permission from publisher Elsevier to release chapters of the Small Animal Critical Care Medicine textbook for vets on the front line treating thermal burns and smoke inhalation.
Port Macquarie Koala Hospital released notes they collated from the 2006 wildfires to add to the VetAPedia library – giving vets access to assessment, first aid, medications, progress and rehabilitation of wildlife affected by burns.
The Journal of Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care (JVECC) then added part 1 and 2 of the journal review on Serve Burn Injuries to VetAPedia, giving vets access to burn classification, pathophysiology, diagnosis, therapy, complications, and prognosis information at their fingertips.
The most inspiring part of all of this is the sheer effort of collaboration. The collation of quality resources would not usually happen overnight. However, before morning, all parties had returned their resources to Animal Emergency Service after hearing the country’s wildlife were in crisis.
Peer review process by VetAPedia's Scientific Committee
Every resource is passed through a strict peer review process by VetAPedia’s Scientific Committee.
Given the natural progression of VetAPedia into a world-wide collaboration hub for vets, Dr Webster says the committee has extended its reach to enable vets everywhere to help save the sickest of pets – and VetAPedia is now taking applications from vets outside of Australia who are interested in joining the VetAPedia Scientific Committee.
“With feedback from vets all over the world – we now know more about what vets need access to. Our vision is to advance the field of emergency and critical care and to ensure all animal patients receive the best standard of medical service.”
The all-new VetAPedia platform will give vets around the world different options in how they consume resources (read, videos, PDF downloads, webinars and more to come); and unites the vet community in their common goal of better treatment for small animals, everywhere.
VetAPedia's Vision: to advance the field of emergency and critical care and to ensure all animal patients receive the best standard of medical service
