Emergency & Critical Care

What to Expect

When you are facing a medical emergency, it’s helpful to know what you might expect when you show up at New Bolton Center. Here are some tips for what to do and what you can expect once you get here.

1. First, call ahead at (610) 444-5800! A call from either you or your veterinarian to speak with the on-call veterinarian will allow us to be ready and waiting for you when you arrive at New Bolton Center.
2. When you arrive, please call the office at 610-444-5800 as you are driving onto the New Bolton campus and into the trailer parking area. You can park in the trailer parking lot and follow signs to “Admissions”. Our front desk staff is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and will alert the doctors and nurses that you have arrived.
3. The nature of your animal’s emergency will determine what happens next. Most often, a clinical care technician will assist you in unloading your animal from your vehicle and will lead your animal to an area where assessment and treatment can begin.
4. New Bolton Center is a teaching hospital, so there might be several people attending to your animal, including a senior clinician, a resident and/or an intern, a senior veterinary student, nurses, and a nursing student.
5. Your animal will receive a thorough assessment and appropriate emergency care at whatever time you arrive. The attending clinician will discuss the findings with you so that decisions regarding further diagnostic testing and care can be made. Following initial assessment, a cost estimate for care will be made and you will be asked to leave a deposit for treatment.

Common Emergencies

1. Colic – an abdominal pain in the horse, covers numerous types of gastrointestinal distress. This painful condition in horses can come on suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, and while the vast majority of horses recover, it is a leading cause of death in equines. Learn more about Colic below.
2. Dealing with Lacerations and Cuts – any cut or laceration should be seen by your veterinarian. Even a small cut on the back of a fetlock could be serious if not treated immediately. Both the size and the location of the wound need to be considered and your local veterinarian can help you decide if your horse should be referred in for further treatment.
3. Serious trauma – any animal that has sustained serious trauma should be seen immediately by either your local veterinarian or by a specialist at New Bolton Center. Serious underlying conditions can be initially masked by adrenaline and prompt veterinary care should always be sought.
4. Fever and Coughing – there are dozens of reasons why your horse could be coughing.
   • There are dozens of reasons why your horse could be coughing. A cough could be a mild irritation, or it could indicate an underlying condition that needs treatment. By paying close attention to when and where the cough occurs, as well as any additional clinical signs, you can help your veterinarian find the cause of the cough and the cure for your horse.
   • The first thing to determine is whether your horse has a fever. Take your horse’s temperature. If the temperature is higher than 101.5 degrees Fahrenheit, contact your veterinarian. A cough with a fever may indicate an infection and warrants veterinary care immediately.
5. Down Animals – if your horse or animal is experiencing periods of recumbency (lying down and being unable to rise), they should be examined by your veterinarian or brought to New Bolton Center. Even if your horse cannot get up, it is still possible to transport your horse to New Bolton Center for further evaluation and treatment. Our Field Service and local clients have the additional support of calling our equine ambulance for such needs.

James M. Moran, Jr. Critical Care Center

The James M. Moran, Jr. Critical Care Center provides round-the-clock veterinary care for large animals suffering from critical illness. The facility has a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit for at-risk pregnant mares, premature foals, and foals needing intensive care; as well as a designated bio-secure environment for animals suffering from infectious disease.

Features of the Center

• It is a single-story structure with two separate wings, one for isolation patients and one for colic patients.
• Both wings have their own procedure rooms, laundry rooms, and small antechambers that are used for sterilization.
• The building has an environmentally controlled air circulation system and pressurized central corridors.
• The building is also equipped with technical advances that will make care and monitoring of patients much more efficient and effective.

What Board Certification Means for your Pets Care

A specialist in large animal emergency critical care is a specially trained veterinarian dedicated to treating life-threatening conditions. Board certification requires extensive additional training, which strongly influences the veterinarian’s expertise in treating patients.

After receiving a veterinary degree (DVM or VMD), a large animal criticalist must:

• First complete a residency program in large animal surgery, medicine, or anesthesia. Following completion of a residency, board certification in the specialty is obtained by passing a comprehensive examination given by the specialty college (ACVS, ACVIM, or ACVAA).
• After completion of the residency, the prospective specialist will receive a minimum (or equivalent) of two to three additional years of intense training in emergency, surgery, and critical care through completion of an American College of Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care (ACVECC)-approved training program.
• Once the veterinarian has completed these years of specialty residency training, the individual must then pass a rigorous board-certification examination given by the ACVECC.
  Upon successful completion of the training and passing of the examination, the veterinarian is a Diplomate of the ACVECC, is termed a “specialist” in emergency critical care, or a “criticalist”, and is board-certified in veterinary emergency and critical care.