The Toonces Project

I'd like to post this because I think we all DO assume our veterinarians are
always practicing with high standards and qualified staff, but we need to
remember to ask. Ask where the vet techs were trained, ask any questions you
deem necessary to assure that a vet establishment is really fully qualified.

http://www.thetooncesproject.com/

Toonces and Stef had a completely unnecessary tragedy. Remember when
boarding a pet, to make sure you have really researched the facility, even
if it is a vets.

Holy crap,

This is the first i've ever heard of this case, and I am shocked that
this happened.

As a vet tech, and an unlicensed vet tech(not for long) I can
understand how the problem could have occured. Having a technician who
is not familiar with giving insulin just give it is unacceptable, which
is why in every place i've worked at the senior technicians are in
charge of giving those kinds of injections. And even if they are not
licensed, they have seniority, years of experience, and have the trust
of the veterinarian to make sure everything is correct.

Whenever giving a drug, every tech needs to check their 'rights'

Right patient
Right drug
Right dose
Right route (IM, Sub Q, IV)
Right time

And also as a rule, I try to always double check with another
technician in case i've made a mistake.

However, errors do occur, and I freely admit that I have made them.

Fortunately I have been very lucky to have only done this with small
doses of certain drugs, and never on the more dangerous drugs. But
they are still unacceptable and on those occasions where i did make
mistakes, they were my own fault. In one case I gave a small injection
to this one cat in a cage, only to realize that it was a different cat.
I had failed to check the cage card to see if it was the right cat.
Ever since i have tried to be very careful when giving injections.

Now in this case the cat had been given an overdose of insulin. First
of all, the technician should have 1) double checked the type of
insulin 2) double check the type of SYRINGE and 3) double checked with
another technician

Also the vet tried to then deny that it occurred. Where was he? He
should have been there.

Apparently the technician was his son. Well i don't know how much
training the son had, but if the doctor had entrusted his son to care
for the animals, then there had to have been a certain level of trust.
But that doesn't excuse him or the vet. As a vet he should have NEVER
left a hospitalized animal in the care of someone not trained. Where
i've worked, even on holidays or days the clinic isnt' open, if there
are hospitalized animals, the vet is STILL there to make sure
everything is given properly.

Also another truth that people need to realize is that not all clinics
will have licensed technicians. However, that doesn't make an
unlicensed technician a bad one. Most of their technicians, though not
licensed, have YEARS of valuable clinical experience. I would put an
unlicensed technician who has 10 years of clinical experience over me
any day.

Would that technician be entrusted to take care of a hospitalized
animal? In most cases, yes. Would he be allowed to give them
medications, like insulin? Yes, because he would know to use an insulin
syringe. So, would he be allowed to give them medical treatment? Yes,
provided that what he does is as per the VET'S orders. Is that
illegal. since he's not licensed? technically, yes, but it is done all
the time. They could claim that it was under the 'supervision' of the
vet or licensed technician even though it is not directly. Also if
that technician is smart he would know when to STOP and get the vet.

Another example, technicians can only induce anesthesia if they are
licensed, but i've seen it done all the time. Most of the time the
person is a senior, well-trusted technician that has worked with the
vet long enough that he knows what he is doing. Now, granted the VET
will tell him how much of the drug to use, but the technician would be
trusted to induce anesthesia.

Last place i worked, I was asked by another technician if i wanted to
induce. I wanted to, since i was not licensed, nor had I ever done it
before, I went and asked the doctor to please supervise me. But there
was one technician that wasn't licensed who did inductions all the
time, but he had 8 years of experience.

The whole Toonces incident is indeed a tragedy. Was it avoidable?
Definitely. Was it careless? Most definitely. While he did let an
unlicensed individual provide veterinary care, that kind of thing is
done frequently, but usually by people with YEARS of clinical
experience. But the vet SHOULD have been there to supervise, since it
was a hospitalized animal. Indeed he was negligent and careless on
that respect.

ok that's my rant,

take care
Kristi

"Karen" wrote:
I'd like to post this because I think we all DO assume our veterinarians are
always practicing with high standards and qualified staff, but we need to
remember to ask. Ask where the vet techs were trained, ask any questions you
deem necessary to assure that a vet establishment is really fully qualified.

http://www.thetooncesproject.com/

Toonces and Stef had a completely unnecessary tragedy. Remember when
boarding a pet, to make sure you have really researched the facility, even
if it is a vets.

Poor kitty. I don't know if there's a line of questioning that could
have prevented this, but it sounds like Toonces lived a very difficult
two years.

Karen wrote:
I'd like to post this because I think we all DO assume our veterinarians are
always practicing with high standards and qualified staff, but we need to
remember to ask. Ask where the vet techs were trained, ask any questions you
deem necessary to assure that a vet establishment is really fully qualified.

http://www.thetooncesproject.com/

Toonces and Stef had a completely unnecessary tragedy. Remember when
boarding a pet, to make sure you have really researched the facility, even
if it is a vets.

What happened to him? The page with the explanaition is blank so
far...
-L.