Addison’s Disease

Addison’s Disease can be very challenging to diagnose. Often the diagnosis happens after all other possibilities are ruled out. This lecture will give attendees an understanding of what happens that leads to Addison’s patient having hypotension, electrolyte abnormalities, and hypovolemia. We will discuss the technician’s role in managing these patients.

Anesthesia Machine

This will cover the function and maintenance of the anesthetic machine.

Anesthesia Monitoring

Anesthesia is a multi-layer training from premeds, induction, intubation, monitoring equipment, machines, anesthesia safety, and post-op care. We have several ways to approach this training, including working alongside your team with real cases, coaching them along the way to troubleshoot and connect the why with the how. The lecture: The 4 Phases of Anesthesia is most foundational and comprehensive to start.

Canine Parvovirus

This is a discussion of Parvovirus starting with the pathophysiology of the disease, including transmission, incubation periods, and preventions. We will discuss diagnostics and monitoring of our parvo patients. We will talk about the different treatment options like medications and advanced catheter/feeding tube placements. We will also touch briefly about isolation protocols. At the end, we will have a fun discussion dispelling some of the internet “myths” on how to treat parvovirus.

Central Catheters

This wet lab (using cadavers) provides hands-on instruction for placing central catheters (jugular and hind limb PICC). Attendees will have an opportunity to practice placing these catheters with instruction and guidance. Written SOP and protocols will be provided for the team/hospital.

CPR

This lecture will go over the process of performing CPR. Focus will be on recognition of CPA, the roles involved in CPR, teamwork dynamics, medications, etc. Attendees will learn the basics of how to perform CPR, the use of emergency drugs, and monitoring techniques. The hands-on training portion the team will learn how to perform CPR. Technique will be the focus. Attendees will learn how to perform effective compressions and how to properly ventilate during the CPR. Teams will also go through some advanced scenarios to be able to respond in real time using CPR models (mannequins provided).

Dental Radiography

This course is best trained hands-on directly with your equipment and patients. Our RVT will coach positioning, troubleshooting tips, and tricks. We recommend scheduling dentals that you aren’t anticipating extensive extractions so we can move through several cases in a day.

ECGs

This presentation will go over how the ECG works, setting up the ECG, and ECG interpretation. The goal of this presentation is to get the attendee to be comfortable with normal ECG waveforms and able to recognize what is not normal.

Epidurals

This lecture will go over why we use epidurals, the anatomy of the spine and nerves, as well as contraindications, advantages, and disadvantages of epidurals. It will also go over troubleshooting and medications used.

ETCO2 Review and Capnography Interpretation

This lecture will review the use of capnography in practice, why it’s important, and common waveforms seen on a capnograph. This lecture will also review troubleshooting of capnography equipment.

Hypotension Correction Focus

This lecture will go over why maintaining blood pressure is important and the physiology behind blood pressure. We will go over how to tell the difference between hypotension from hypovolemia or from a decrease in cardiac output. We will discuss different ways to correct hypotension and common medications used.

IV Catheters

This is a 30-minute lecture of vascular anatomy, the parts of an IVC, different types of IV catheters, positioning, sterile prep, tips, and tricks for successful placement. The other 30 minutes will be hands-on practice with mannequins. Focus will be maintaining sterile field, proper positioning, and finesse of advancing an IV catheter, as well as standard taping techniques to ensure stability in the vessel.

Local Blocks

This lecture will go over the reasons to use nerve blocks and common nerve blocks used in practice. This lecture will also go over how sodium channel blockers work and how to perform common nerve blocks.

Medical Math

This lecture will give technicians a better understanding of how to do common medical math calculations. Starting out with basic calculations and progressing to complex CRI calculations. A handout with common formulas and practice worksheets will be provided.

Nasal Tubes

This is a wet lab using cadavers. Attendees will receive instruction and guidance on the placement of nasogastric, nasoesophageal, and nasal oxygen catheters. Written SOP and protocols will be provided.

Pain Management

We will discuss local regional blocks, CRIs, and other injectable options during anesthesia.

Patient Restraint (Fear Free)

We will discuss fear-free handling of canine, feline, and avian species. This lecture will discuss and provide examples of alternative restraint techniques of patients that decrease fear and anxiety as well as fractious animal handling techniques. Additional handling of exotics species can also be provided upon request.

Peripheral Nerve Stimulation

We will discuss understanding of what peripheral nerve stimulators (PNS) are, how they work, and the goal of utilizing them. This lecture will also go over the advantages, disadvantages, and contraindications for use. This lecture will also go over what medications to use for nerve blocks and common nerve blocks performed with a PNS. If you have a PNS in your hospital, we are also able to coach alongside you directly with your equipment and patients.

Sedation Protocols

This is a review of drugs available for sedation, including the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics, how to combine them, and monitoring during sedation. A second lecture with exotics focus is also available.

Shock

This lecture will give attendees an understanding of what happens during shock. We will discuss the pathophysiology of shock, types of shock, and the stages of shock. We will also discuss the technician’s role in managing these patients.

Triage

This lecture will give the attendee an understanding of how to handle urgent/emergencies from the moment they call the practice through patient treatment. We will discuss how to handle phone calls, recognize true emergencies, and prioritize patients based on their symptoms.

Urinary Catheters

This wet lab (using cadavers) provides instruction and guidance on different types of urinary catheters, sterile practices, placement in males and females, and collection system setup. Written SOP and protocols will be provided.

Urinary Obstruction

This lecture discusses what is happening during a urethral obstruction. We talk about the pathophysiology of the obstruction itself but there is also a focus on the consequences that obstruction has on the rest of the body. Learning about electrolyte abnormalities, cardiac disturbances, and fluid balance will give attendees a better understanding of how to successfully manage these patients.

Ventilator Management

We will discuss the understanding of how to use the anesthesia ventilators in practice, and we will also discuss physiology, troubleshooting, and different modes of ventilation.