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FOREWORD
Intensive care in
companion animals
THE first intensive care units
(ICUs) in human hospitals were
founded in the 1960s and 1970s
and although human medicine
has undergone marked
development since that time,
the aim of the ICU today is as
it was then: to provide
treatment for patients with
life-threatening illnesses who
require constant monitoring
and often support from
specialist equipment. ICUs have a high level of staffing, and these staff
are specially trained to deal with severely ill patients. Veterinary ICU care
has followed this human medical model and has developed hugely over
the past 30 years, with the foundation of the Veterinary Emergency and
Critical Care Society in 1984 (with a European arm in 2002) and the
American College of Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care in 1989
being important steps. The foundation of the European College of
Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care in 2014 shows that veterinary
critical care is still progressing today.
The articles in this In Practice Focus help explain how veterinary ICU
care can be provided. Identification of animals requiring ICU care are
described in the ‘Triage of the veterinary patient’ and ‘Monitoring small
animal patients in the intensive care unit’ articles. The ‘Planning,
managing and equipping an intensive care unit within a veterinary facility’
article describes the ideal ICU and what is practical to achieve in practice.
Monitoring, effective nursing and nutrition are vital aspects of
management of the ICU patient and are covered in the ‘Monitoring small
animal patients in the intensive care unit’, ‘Nursing critically ill patients in
the intensive care unit’ and ‘Nutritional support in the intensive care unit’
articles, respectively. This In Practice Focus aims to demonstrate what is
possible in the veterinary world today for some of our sickest, yet often
most rewarding, patients. We hope it is both inspiring and useful.
Karen Humm,
Royal Veterinary College,
Hawkshead Lane, North Mymms,
Hertfordshire AL9 7TA, UK
e-mail: [email protected]
Foreword
1 Intensive care in
companion animals
Karen Humm
Managing a unit
2 Planning, managing
and equipping an
intensive care unit
within a veterinary
facility
Caroline Smith,
Holly Witchell
Triage
6 Triage of the veterinary
patient
Daniel Lewis,
Emma Donnelly
Patient monitoring
12 Monitoring small
animal patients in the
intensive care unit
Karen Humm, Lindsay
Kellett-Gregory
Nutrition
18 Nutritional support in
the intensive care unit
Aarti Kathrani
Nursing
25 Nursing critically
ill patients in the
intensive care unit
Elle Haskey
doi: 10.1136/inp.i5631
This supplement is sponsored by Royal Canin. In Practice commissioned the articles, which were peer-reviewed and assessed for relevance. It also provided copy
editing, production and distribution services. ©British Veterinary Association 2016. All rights reserved.
In Practice FOCUS November 2016
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Downloaded from http://inpractice.bmj.com/ on August 11, 2017 - Published by group.bmj.com
Intensive care in companion animals
Karen Humm
In Practice 2016 38: 1
doi: 10.1136/inp.i5631
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