What to Expect When You Arrive
Coming to the Emergency Service can be stressful for both you and your pet. Here are some guidelines that can help you prepare for your visit.
What We Offer
As one of the most experienced and well-established emergency services in the world, the Emergency Service (ES) at Ryan Hospital offers an unsurpassed level of care that ensures patients have the best chance possible for survival and recovery.
We function as an advanced trauma and diagnostic center, similar to advanced human emergency centers, providing life saving care throughout the day and night, seven days a week, 365 days per year.
- Clinical Expertise
Our world-renowned faculty and staff are pioneers in research on trauma, shock, and other emergency conditions and have written numerous articles and textbooks in the field of emergency and critical care medicine. This cutting edge knowledge guarantees that the most up-to-date and advanced treatments are provided for our patients.
We have a permanent staff of five clinicians, all board-certified in veterinary emergency and critical care, who are responsible for the oversight and management of the patients treated in the emergency room.
Since we are a teaching hospital, your pet may also be cared for by a resident or intern, doctors who are receiving advanced training in the field of emergency and critical care medicine. Fourth year veterinary students are another facet of your pet’s care-giving team.
- Experienced support staff
The emergency service technical staff consists of full-time experienced certified veterinary technicians along with a staff of part-time certified technicians. Two of our technicians are specialty certified in the area of veterinary emergency and critical nursing. Our technicians are an integral part of our emergency and critical care team.
- Access to Other Specialists
Emergency Service patients have access to the entire expertise of Penn Vet specialists. Consultations about your pet’s medical condition and hospital admission to the internal medicine, cardiology, orthopedic surgery, soft tissue surgery, neurology, ophthalmology, oncology, radiation oncology, dentistry, anesthesia, pediatrics and medical genetics, radiology, and behavior departments can be arranged through ES. Using a team approach to veterinary medicine, we work together to ensure that your pet receives the specialized medical care it needs.
- Advanced therapy and monitoring capabilities
- Diagnostic imaging modalities, including digital radiography, ultrasound, computed tomography (CT), MRI, and positron emission tomography (PET) scanning are available seven days a week (ultrasound, CT and MRI are available during the day, radiographs can be taken 24 hours per day)
- State-of-the-art blood gas analyzer, blood coagulation analyzer, and blood typing and cross-matching capability allows for STAT blood testing
- Full blood work, including complete blood count, serum chemistry panel, snap cPLI, snap fPLI
- Non invasive monitoring including oscillometric or Doppler systemic blood pressure, pulse oximetry and EKG as well as invasive hemodynamic monitoring such as direct arterial blood pressure, central venous pressure, and pulmonary artery catheterization
- FAST or Focal Assement with Sonography for Trauma- allows quick ultrasound evaluation of body cavities to look for the abnormal accumulation of free fluid
- Emergency surgery and endoscopy
- Blood transfusions utilizing the regions only in-house blood bank
- Oxygen therapyMechanical ventilation and advanced life support through our critical care team