Texas A&M Student Chapter of the Student Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care Society
… also known as
What is veterinary emergency & critical care?
Emergency & critical care veterinarians, technicians and staff work 24/7 with all of the cases that are considered too complicated or extreme for standard private practices: snakebites, chemical burns, toxin ingestions, GDVs, traumas, seizures, shock and more.
Emergency veterinarians usually work at either specialty clinics (like 24 hour/7 days per week veterinary ERs and ICUs) or do relief work at veterinary private practices on nights/weekends. They specialize in handling the cases that standard veterinary private practices either don’t have the time or resources to take care of.
So, what can I get out of joining SVECCS?
We here at SVECCS try to give members a glimpse into what “a day in the life” of emergency & critical care medicine is all about. Even people who don’t specifically want to be emergency veterinarians say that SVECCS is helpful… because you never know when an emergency case could walk into your private practice. It’s helpful to know how to stabilize emergencies (so that they can be sent elsewhere) or even treat them yourself!
Every SVECCS meeting has a speaker that is an emergency veterinarian, speaking on an emergency medicine-related topics. In addition, we have:
- We are excited to offer RECOVER Rescuer CPR certification for students, technicians, and veterinarians through the American College of Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care at Texas A&M University. We will not be offering the online portion this time around, just the hands-on laboratory training. The hands-on laboratory for Basic Life Support (BSL) and Advanced Life Support (ALS) certificates will be offered through our SVECCS Chapter. Click the link to our meetings and events (below) to stay updated on this event. To learn more about RECOVER, visit their website https://recoverinitiative.org/ or click the image below to visit the registration page.
- Why get BLS/ALS Certified?
- The Reassessment Campaign on Veterinary Resuscitation (RECOVER) initiative developed and disseminated the first true evidence-based veterinary cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) guidelines. These courses are usually only offered at major conventions like IVECCS or other large CE conferences once a year. Our entire registration fee (with meals included) will be more than $100 cheaper than the average cost offered at major conventions. You also don’t have to worry about travel and lodging costs since this lab is offered right here in Aggieland! Even if you don’t plan on going into Emergency Medicine in the future, the day WILL COME where you have to perform or be involved in CPR on one of your patients. It is better to be knowledgeable and capable when this unfortunate situation arises, than to think about what you could have done differently to be more prepared afterwards. This certification will also look really nice on a resume one day!
Emergency and Critical Care Opportunities:
- SVECCS members get to sign up to shadow emergency vets, techs, and 4VM A&M vet students in the Texas A&M Small Animal Teaching Hospital’s ICU and Triage Wards.
- First Aid Seminar & CE Conferences — SVECCS members help put on local events such as the First Aid Seminar (once per year, open to the public) and volunteer at emergency & critical care continuing education conferences throughout the year such as IVECCs. See the calendar page for an updated schedule of events!
- Networking opportunities with emergency clinicians and intern recruiters.
- Attending the IVECCS Conferences every year. If you help work it, you can get your registration fees waived, and attend lectures, exhibitors, events, lunches/dinners, for free!
How do I join?
Purchase dues ($15) online here through our FlyWire, or pay in cash/check to our Treasurer during the school year. This link will also give you access to our store to buy merchandise!
Our meetings and events!
If you have questions, you can contact one of our officers: