What is Critical Care?
The critical care team at MissionVet Specialty & Emergency consists of doctors and highly trained technicians who work closely with our Emergency Medicine and other specialty departments to help provide comprehensive, quality, and compassionate care. Veterinary Critical Care specialists are capable of treating a wide range of medical problems and critical illnesses, raising the level of patient care within our hospital. Board-certified criticalists are specialists with advanced training managing life-threatening conditions and work with our most critical patients. After completion of their veterinary degree and a year-long rotating internship, criticalists receive a minimum of 3-years of additional advanced training in emergency & critical care, followed by a rigorous credentialing process. They are trained to help stabilize, diagnose, and treat patients requiring emergent and intensive treatment and monitoring for disorders ranging from life-threatening injuries to metabolic disease or respiratory disorders and everything in between.
Our centrally located intensive care unit (ICU) is designed to provide advanced medical support, including oxygen therapy, tailored IV fluid therapies and enteral nutrition, blood pressure monitoring, continuous cardiac monitoring, blood gas analyzers, pulse oximetry, capnography, blood typing and blood and albumin transfusion therapy, coagulation monitoring and ultrasonography. In the event that your pet requires oxygen therapy, our ICU contains oxygen cages that have the ability to provide a temperature and humidity controlled, oxygen-enriched environment. Our intensive care unit is staffed by a group of compassionate and highly trained doctors and technicians 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, to provide for all the needs that may arise for your pet.
Our Critical Care Team
Dalton Hindmarsh
DVM, DACVECC
Beth Lozano
DVM, DACVECC
Dalton Hindmarsh
DVM, DACVECC
Beth Lozano
DVM, DACVECC
Services
Our critical care doctors perform emergency procedures and manage post-operative patients with complications or at high-risk for complications. Common services that our critical care team is able to provide include:
Acute patient stabilization
Shock and polytrauma resuscitation and stabilization
Stabilization/treatment of complications due to chronic illnesses (ex: kidney disease, heart disease, diabetes, etc.)
Oxygen support including concentrated oxygen chambers and nasal lines
Advanced electrolyte and fluid correction
Blood product transfusion and monitoring
Intensive peri-operative anesthetic protocols and post-operative care
Tailored nutritional plans for hospitalized patients
Placement of central venous access lines, chest tubes, drains and feeding tubes
Paracentesis procedures: pericardial, pleural, and peritoneal (removal of severe fluid accumulation from body cavities)
Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation
Our multi-disciplinary approach and close cooperation among our specialists allows us to offer the best care available to the patients entrusted to us. Our critical care doctors are also available to your primary veterinarian for phone consults and transfers, if needed.
