Dear Colleagues,

It appears that many Residents struggle to collect enough exotics patients for their case log.

At the University of Vienna, small rodents, ferrets and rabbits are handled directly by the small animal clinic. We also have a tight cooperation with the avian and reptiles clinic and every major procedure requiring anaesthesia is performed in the facilities of the small animal surgery.

In the first 6 month of 2015, in example, we provided anaesthesia for 51 rabbits, 43 small rodents and ferrets and 33 reptiles and birds (which sums up to something more than 1 case per working day). The cases are not always evenly distributed over time, of course, but visitors staying for a couple of weeks are normally able to get quite some exotic patients.

We are therefore very glad to accept visiting Residents looking for exotic patients.

For more information or to organize an externship in Vienna please do not hesitate to contact me (Attilio.rocchi@vetmeduni.ac.at).

Best wishes,

Dr. Attilio Rocchi, Dip ECVAA
Department of Anaesthesiology and perioperative Intensive-Care Medicine
University of Veterinary Medicine
Veterinärplatz 1
1210 Vienna, Austria

Winterthur, 02.11.2011

Statement
of the President
of the Association of Veterinary Anaesthetists
regarding the Certificate Course
in Monitoring of Anaesthesia (SPVS)
in the UK

The Executive Committee of the Association of Veterinary Anaesthetists as well as its memberships hereby state their position with respect to the implentation of such courses. We believe that any qualification that undermines or serves to circumvent that of the Registered Veterinary Nurse should not be supported, particularly when clearly aimed at allowing unqualifed lay staff to undertake nursing duties.

Veterinary Nurse training in the UK is highly regarded and for good reasons. It produces nurses who are capable of undertaking the challenging and potentially difficult task of caring for animals undergoing general anaesthesia. It seems short sighted to allow lay staff to undertake such duties and a marked retrospective step when Veterinary Technicians in other countries, such as the USA, must be li-censed in order to practice. In fact it might well be considered as a cost cutting exercise given that there is a well structured training programme already available. It is certainly not in the interests of animal welfare.

The current public perception is that all „nurses“ are equal, and whilst those in the profession know that this is not the case, it is important to educate clients about the benefits of qualified nurses.

To this end, the assocation supports changes to the Veterinary Surgeons Act that will enshrine the role of the Veterinary Nurse and provide legal protection for this title. Such legal changes will serve the interests of animal welfare in a global context, provide reassurance to clients that an appropriate standard of care will be provided to their animals and will avoid the use of cheap and unskilled labour by veterinary surgeons.

We appreciate that this is an evolving process but accepting poor standards for tenuous reasons is not acceptable to us and will continue to be resisted.

Peter Kronen
President of the AVA

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At the Autumn AVA Meeting in Liverpool (14-16 September 2011) the ECVAA held an extraordinary Annual General Meeting featuring Elections of New Officers. The new Officers are the Diplomates Klaus Otto (President), Federico Corletto (Vice-President), Isabelle Iff (Secretary), Alex Dugdale (Treasurer), Yves Moens (Past -President).

At the end of this Meeting three distinguished ECVAA Diplomates retired from Executive Committee after more that 16 years intensive and dedicated work for ECVAA. On behalf of the ECVAA the president evoked the unequivocal contribution of Dimitris Raptopoulos (started as Invited specialist in the Interim Board and was Secretary, President, Past-President and Chairperson of the Credentials and Education Committee), Kathy Clarke (also invited specialist in the Interim Board and Secretary, President and Past-President) and Ron S Jones (Grandfather of the ECVAA and Treasurer). The president in name of all members thanked them for what they have done. The audience expressed its gratitude with a warm applause during the handing over of a present commemorating their commitment to ECVAA.

The six Presidents of the College reunited at the Gala Dinner in the Liverpool Meeting
(15 September 2011)

Dear All,

It is a year since Dr Leslie Hall passed away and to commemorate this and to launch the Dr L.W. Hall Memorial fund, a meeting will take place at Girton College, Cambridge, UK. Here is the programme and registration form. The topic of equine respiratory function under anaesthesia was chosen as this is a field that Leslie made tremendous contributions to understanding of the basic mechanisms . It has been decided that memorial fund should fund a memorial lecture at a veterinary anaesthesia meeting. In view of desiring this to be a lasting memorial to Dr Hall with limited resources and in view of the fact that Leslie was a prime mover is starting the World Congress's in Veterinary Anaesthesia , having the first international meeting in Cambridge, it has been decided to offer this lecture to the WCVA.

Jackie Brearley