Vets blues and twos? Opinions?

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Elvis

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I've just seen on a Facebook group that someone had a horse who was suffering with colic but unfortunately the vet didn't make it in time and the horse died during its struggle. The owner stated that they wished vets could use the same sirens and lights as other emergency services as the vet was delayed in traffic and restricted by speed limits. Others commented saying they agreed with this as they had also had horses that needed emergency treatment quickly but vets were delayed for similar reasons as above. However others mentioned the extensive driving training the emergency service drivers have to participate in, and how this wouldn't be practical for vets. So what does everyone think, should vets be able to use sirens and lights to get to emergency cases more quickly?
 
I can see both sides - extremely practical and extremely impractical all the same ... however I'd like to know that if my horse needed emergency treatment, someone would be there as fast as an ambulance could ...
 
No I don't much as I love my horses, I think it should be restricted as it is now. However I would like to see all vets trained and equipped to PTS large animals as a basic part of their qualification and practice on welfare grounds, so that you could call the very nearest one and that way they wouldn't be travelling far, thus solving the problem another way.

I don't think the public would support blues and twos for animals cases.
 
A very interesting idea..As we all know the Ambulance and Fire Brigade get some very random call outs and in the case of an animal what would you class as an emergency..Every owner would class their horses cut/cough/not eating his tea as an emergency therefore taking that vet away from a horse who possibly has a life threatening injury or illness...So where is the line drawn...Every paying client has the right to see a vet..Please excuse the ramblings..haha
 
I've often worried that my vets would take too long to get here in an emergency as they are 45-60 mins away and have to deal with M25 traffic. There are several equine practices much closer than my vet so I have their numbers in my phone just in case. The nearest is only a mile away and I did consider that as I'm not a client they may refuse to come out but you hope in an extreme emergency that they would. Has anyone called out a vet they are not registered with in an emergency?
 
I know a vet nurse, who was called in to clinic as an emergency. She got stopped en-route for speeding, and the cops didn't believe her story when she said why! The surgery was delayed due to it, but i think the horse was ok. I think I'm right in saying, on call doctors get a 'green light' to put on their vehicles, so can something similar happen to vets on the emergency calls?? Don't think doctors get extra driving tuition???
 
That I think would be a major difficulty. As you say every horse owner wants a vet there ASAP so would want the sirens and lights used so the vet gets to them as quickly as possible. I suppose it could be run on the same premise as ambulances and doctors are used, ie when your horse is injured, a bit off, but not 100% an emergency you phone your normal vets (like you could phone an on call doctor) but when you need someone there right away you phone the emergency vets (like an ambulance) and they would be trained in life saving horse aid, so they'd be able to PTS, give high doses of pain relief, sort out major wounds etc, and get the horse to a more stable state before a vet comes out of the horse is moved to a vet practice.

In reality I doubt it would be practical, financially viable or well supported though.
 
Fools Motto - one of our vets was stopped for speeding on her way to a small animal emergency, the dog was actually dying but the police wouldn't accept this and she was fined.

It's difficult as I've been on both sides ie waiting for a vet to arrive for my own emergencies, in fact my first horse died waiting for a vet but it actually wouldn't of made any difference even if he had arrived sooner but I've also been the one rushing to an emergency and have therefore felt that pressure.

All I can say is that choose a practice geographically near to your animals and make sure things like vet numbers are on your mobiles etc
 
Speeding and jumping lights/junctions to get to an emergency risks human lives. This is justifiable to save human life, but not an animal, sorry :(
 
I think a green light like the doctor on call might be worth considering. Enable them to get through heavy traffic more easily but not skip red lights etc.
 
Doctors dont take extra driving lessons but do have a flashing light..(brother in law consultant) .so why cant vets have the same??? I agree only if absolute emergency...
 
lachlanandmarcus said:
No I don't much as I love my horses, I think it should be restricted as it is now. However I would like to see all vets trained and equipped to PTS large animals as a basic part of their qualification and practice on welfare grounds, so that you could call the very nearest one and that way they wouldn't be travelling far, thus solving the problem another way.

I don't think the public would support blues and twos for animals cases.
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This. If it's going to be horses, then why not dogs, cats...any other animal? The roads would be full of vehicles responding to emergencies/emergencies.

I started listing reasonscwhy this wouldn't work, but there were so many I gave up.
 
But, the owner of the hamster can get it in car and go to vets much easier than loading up a large animal... hence large animal vets need to get to animal.

I don't think anything will ever change, or even work for that matter, but there are times, when you think it should!
 
LynH said:
I've often worried that my vets would take too long to get here in an emergency as they are 45-60 mins away and have to deal with M25 traffic. There are several equine practices much closer than my vet so I have their numbers in my phone just in case. The nearest is only a mile away and I did consider that as I'm not a client they may refuse to come out but you hope in an extreme emergency that they would. Has anyone called out a vet they are not registered with in an emergency?
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Yes, when my mare died of colic she ended up in the closest equine practice as they are close, and also because they have all the facilities. My own vet is a small practice, but I'm registered with them as I dislike the vet practice closer to me. Anyway, they had no hesitation in coming out to see her and then taking her in for surgery.

I can see that wouldn't be an option for some, though - already registered with their local practice but it's still over half an hour away. I'm not sure where I stand on the matter, though.
 
As a vet, no, I don't think we should have blue lights, I get enough speeding points as it is!
On a serious note, while obviously distressing if your horse has colic etc, there is very few emergencies where the minutes saved by using lights would make a difference - in equine work, foalings would be the main one, where a few minutes delay could cost a foal it's life. Things like bleeding/breathing difficulties, in all honesty, if a horse can't survive those extra few minutes then no vet was going to be able to save it anyway. And I have been to plenty of cases where an owner has told me the horse is dying over the phone and its actually only had mild colic, how do you decide which cases get the flashing lights? Horse owners in particular are fairly well known as being over sensitive about their animals (and I say this as an over-sensitive horse owner myself!)

There is nothing more frustrating than being stuck in traffic on the way to emergencies, but has already been said, it's not worth a person losing their life (be that vet or public) for an animal.
 
Ref the blues & 2's, no, I dont think it should be mandatory for vets.
However, in extreme cases they can have a police escort, tho even this is not at the speed/conditions that an emergency vehicle would be at but mostly to get through blocked traffic etc. This is usually only to an RTA tho.

Lyn H, I have called out another practice once that I was not registered with & it was only under their total duress & my credit card that they came :(
I'm registered with 2 practices now - my preferred vet who I use for 99% of things & a very local practice too.
Very local practice are only used to flu-vac TF once a year, but does mean i can call them in emergency if I really had to.
My preferred vet practice will not go out to non-registered clients. (or wouldn't 2 years ago)
 
The vet round here stuck an orange light on his car and zoomed about the place. People got out of his was as though he were the police. This lasted 3 weeks til the police got him speeding and gave him a proper rollicking for the light. Needless to say he doesnt have it any more!
 
PHP:
I also believe they should access to some kind of system to allow them to get through traffic, although the vet above thinks it would not make a difference.
I don't know how many random calls vets get which are not emergencies, but I do think people consider it more thoroughly because of getting a bill for it. Although you may get one from an ambulance call outit seems it is rarely changed for, therefore people do not consider the full implications.
Certainly where I live, there are days when a vet could take about 30 minutes to just travel 5/6 miles or so. Which, is a heck of a long time when you have a very sick animal, and it is too big to take to the vet in a car.
 
Fools Motto said:
But, the owner of the hamster can get it in car and go to vets much easier than loading up a large animal... hence large animal vets need to get to animal.
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Sorry to be totally pedantic on this one...but not if they didn't have a car. An old person worrying that fluffykins the cat hasn't finished her dinner tonight. Or Rambo the dog who has been hot by a car and is lying in the road in a bad state- I can imagine most people would rather not move them and would prefer to have the vet out asap instead.

Can you imagine the response the owner of a beloved dog (with no car, say taxi or public transport only) would give when told that their pet lying in the road dying isn't enough of an emergency but a horse is? Just because horses are bigger animals doesn't mean those with smaller pets don't have transport issues.
 
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Fools Motto said:
But, the owner of the hamster can get it in car and go to vets much easier than loading up a large animal... hence large animal vets need to get to animal.

I don't think anything will ever change, or even work for that matter, but there are times, when you think it should!
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Not every owner can get in a car and go to the vets.
 
The only time I think it should be acceptable would to put an animal down who is suffering. I remember someone having to wait 40mins for a vet after the horse broke her leg with the bone protruding from the skin. Sadly no farmer around or she would have got him to do it.
 
It just wouldn't work.

Quite often vets are on other emergency calls so can't leave to attend another emergency in any case. Police escorts would be of no use as the Police would have to get to the vet first to then escort them wasting valuable time. Police will escort a vet or other service to for an example the scene of an accident. I've been escorted to deal with pollution incidents involving RTA's.

Unlike the ambulance service where ambulances are poised in strategic positions waiting for the next call vets could be anywhere and take a long time to get to you even if they could drive faster also bearing in mind horses are often located out in the sticks.
 
Kokopelli said:
The only time I think it should be acceptable would to put an animal down who is suffering. I remember someone having to wait 40mins for a vet after the horse broke her leg with the bone protruding from the skin. Sadly no farmer around or she would have got him to do it.
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I agree with this. Or at least they should be given a police escort.
Mainly due to watching that BBC programme that was linked on here the other week with the horse hit by the car and lying prone in the road, distressed and suffering for a considerable amount of time due to the vet being held up in traffic.
 
I have my horses registered at a vet 5 min away, for basic stuff ect, but he will refere to an equine vet 20 miles away if need be, and we are 10 miles from lea hurst vet school. My vet has several partners and I've never had to wait long for emergency vet, thankfully it was nothing bad when I called them, but they were there in 10 min. I don't think blue light is appropriate though.
 
I think vets should be able to have a light to evade traffic queues but beyond that they're not going to get to you much quicker.
 
Micky said:
Doctors dont take extra driving lessons but do have a flashing light..(brother in law consultant) .so why cant vets have the same??? I agree only if absolute emergency...
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Two headlines-

"Mother of two killed by Doctor speeding to heart attack victim. "

"Mother of two killed by vet speeding to treat sick pony"

One a terrible accident. The other an avoidable tragedy.
 
I don't think a green light actually allows you to speed or break any road law, I understand that the police would give you an escort if possible and people may let you through or out. GP's are not allowed to speed to an emergency as they are not deemed an emergency service only fire police and ambulance are and would be prosecuted for speeding if caught, I think the same goes for consultants and I would assume vets would be the same. The high speed training for blues and twos drivers is only available for the 3 services. All high speed driving carries risk to other road users.
 
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