One of the vital services offered by the Animal Emergency Centre is the overnight care of hospital patients. When you refer patients to the Veterinary Specialist Group (VSG®) for specialist assessment it is reassuring to know that the Animal Emergency Centre team will be working together with VSG® to provide them with true 24 hour veterinary attention.
Overnight hospital care is not solely the privilege of referred patients, however. This facility is also available for your in-patients. The Animal Emergency Centre is proud to offer an overnight monitoring service for any hospital patient requiring observation or medication overnight.
Please click here to download the Animal Emergency Centre referral document
Email your patient history and completed referral documents to aecinfo@animalemergency.co.nz
Fax your patient documentation to (09) 8455 456
Which cases can I send?
- Post surgical cases requiring IV fluid therapy or ongoing pain management
- Critical / trauma cases, requiring:
- Monitoring of urine output
- Oxygenation
- Bladder management
- Regular electrolyte / blood gas monitoring overnight
- Unstable medicine cases:
- Heart failure
- Diabetic ketoacidosis
- Renal failure
- Seizuring
- Any case where predictable delivery of IV fluids is critical
- Unstable patients booked for referral to VSG® the following day
- Complex cases arriving on your doorstep at closing time
- Any patient you feel concerned about leaving overnight unattended
How do I send a patient to AEC?
- Vet to vet contact is encouraged wherever possible, so please phone us to discuss the case
- Let us know your intentions for the case, either on the phone, or written in your referral documents
- Send us any relevant clinical information by Fax (09) 845 5456, Email aecinfo@animalemergency.co.nz or by hard copy sent with the client
- Clinical history pertinent to current problem
- Radiographs
- Results of diagnostic tests
- Recent hospital charts (with details of when, and at what dose, medications have been administered)
- Your client will transport their pet to us within our opening hours
- Our nurse arrives at 5pm on week nights, but there is no AEC duty veterinarian until 6pm
- Each pet is assessed by a veterinarian at admission (there is no ‘drop and go’ service)
- As each patient is unique, costs will differ slightly in each case. An estimate will be discussed with your client at admission. If you would like a clear idea of cost before sending a patient to us, please phone ahead
- A specialist will not assess your client’s pet during Animal Emergency Centre’s opening hours