Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health (ASPPH)/National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Public Health Fellow, Washington, DC USA.
Teaching Assistant Professor, Veterinary Clinical Medicine, University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine, Urbana, IllinoisUSA.
Prehosp Disaster Med. 2021 Aug;36(4):466-469. doi: 10.1017/S1049023X21000364. Epub 2021 Apr 13.
Emergency Medical Services (EMS) personnel frequently encounter animals in situations ranging from injured law enforcement canines (LEK9s) to pets with smoke inhalation injury. In recent years, several US states have enacted laws that legally allow EMS personnel to provide basic emergency care to certain animals. Currently, nine states allow some type of emergency medical treatment and/or ambulance transport of animals by EMS, and five states limit liability for vehicle damage resulting from rescuing animals trapped inside. Despite this expanding body of legislation encouraging EMS to assist animals, EMS personnel are not typically trained in the safe handling or medical treatment of animals. Interaction with veterinary patients can pose serious injury and infectious disease risks to untrained EMS personnel. Furthermore, relationships with veterinarians must be built and treatment and transport protocols must be developed for EMS agencies to appropriately care for these animals. This report serves as an initial framework from the veterinary perspective for EMS consideration regarding current legislation, safety concerns, transport protocols, and common life-saving treatments in the prehospital emergency care of animals. Increased collaboration between EMS personnel and veterinary professionals provides an opportunity to develop quality training programs for EMS and to improve disaster preparedness of the whole community.
紧急医疗服务（EMS）人员经常在各种情况下遇到动物，从受伤的执法犬（LEK9）到吸入烟雾的宠物。近年来，美国几个州已经颁布法律，允许 EMS 人员为某些动物提供基本的紧急护理。目前，九个州允许 EMS 对某些类型的动物进行紧急医疗治疗和/或救护车转运，五个州限制因救援被困在车内的动物而造成车辆损坏的责任。尽管这项扩大的立法鼓励 EMS 协助动物，但 EMS 人员通常没有接受过安全处理或治疗动物的培训。与兽医患者的互动可能会给未经培训的 EMS 人员带来严重的伤害和传染病风险。此外，必须与兽医建立关系，并制定治疗和转运协议，以便 EMS 机构能够妥善照顾这些动物。本报告从兽医的角度出发，为 EMS 考虑当前立法、安全问题、运输协议以及动物院前急救中的常见救生治疗提供了一个初步框架。增加 EMS 人员和兽医专业人员之间的合作，为 EMS 制定高质量的培训计划并提高整个社区的灾难准备提供了机会。
