Animal care in times of Coronavirus
We've gotten a lot of information from national organizations (AAHA, AVMA), state organization (IVMA) and local health dept. There are webinars going on daily. What your vet does probably depends on local severity and state regulations but we've been in contact with Dr. Hall (now runs our former hospital) and these are the new normal conditions:
No client is allowed in the hospital.
Animals are retrieved from the car by a hospital employee.
All communications are done by phone.
Routine surgeries have been cancelled.
As many problems are being solved via telemedicine as possible, many things can be addresses by phone with extensive q&a between doctor/tech and client.
The state mandates that if any hospital personnel turns up positive for corona, the hospital must close for 2 weeks, personnel self quarantine and thorough hospital disinfection performed (that's done usually twice daily anyway with individual exam room disinfection after each patient).
This all means that veterinarians are going to have to work together between hospitals in case one has to close. It also means that people are going to have to be cooperative in dealing with these new normals.
BTW, it looks like I'm going to be called back to help work through the surgery backlog as soon as things lighten up a little. I guess things could be worse.
Dr. Doug
No client is allowed in the hospital.
Animals are retrieved from the car by a hospital employee.
All communications are done by phone.
Routine surgeries have been cancelled.
As many problems are being solved via telemedicine as possible, many things can be addresses by phone with extensive q&a between doctor/tech and client.
The state mandates that if any hospital personnel turns up positive for corona, the hospital must close for 2 weeks, personnel self quarantine and thorough hospital disinfection performed (that's done usually twice daily anyway with individual exam room disinfection after each patient).
This all means that veterinarians are going to have to work together between hospitals in case one has to close. It also means that people are going to have to be cooperative in dealing with these new normals.
BTW, it looks like I'm going to be called back to help work through the surgery backlog as soon as things lighten up a little. I guess things could be worse.
Dr. Doug
