I wanted to share an example of why regular veterinary CPR training is so important. I first worked with Nightingale Vets back in 2024, this was before the days of a limited company and it was just myself travelling all over the UK.
Emily reached out to me thanks to the power of a Facebook group called Vet Mums are better than Google- we still are! Early one morning I headed up to Ashbocking, a beautiful village in Suffolk. The practice was newly built but was gorgeous, the branding and little touches were lovely. As was Emily, who had laid on a brunch for everyone and had made the CPR training a real event. Something that is so lovely to do for the team.
We settled into the training and we all had a great time. The first session I did with them we very much focussed on Basic Life Support and got everyone up to speed with compression and ventilation techniques.
CPR Training – A refresher
A year later I was back again, working with new team members and refreshing the existing team. This year after a delicious valentines themed breaky we started to explore ALS a little more. Still reminding everyone of the BLS techniques that we know are linked to better outcomes but also working on the leadership and any updates to ALS. Throughout all the sessions I’d known Emily and the practice had never experienced a CPA but I was so proud of them being proactive. They wanted to be prepared and keep skills fresh because they knew it would happen one day..
CPR Training came in useful this day
Then Emily popped me a message, it had happened could we debrief?
Absolutely, whilst I can’t comment on the clinical condition of the patient we can go through the CPR and reflect on it. Which we did, Emily was going to lead the debrief with her team and just wanted some pointers. I pointed out they all did amazingly and I wanted to ensure they all knew that.
This is what Emily had to say about the training and how much it helped and prepared them.
‘So finally it happened to me too. We had a septic dog in DIC, thought to be a pyo who crashed. The training that I gift my team and myself every year from Sam came fully into force as like the most amazingly choreographed performance everyone managed their roles so well. It was seamless.
I am so grateful to Sam for all her advice, teachings, tips and support as although the owner asked us to stop compressions, we feel the outcome was still great as the quality of the CPR and ALS was superb. I am so proud of the whole team and so thankful that we invest in Sam’s CPR Coach training annually as it’s invaluable. Thank you so much Sam!’
Emily you are so very welcome and thank you for allowing me to share your story. Needless to say 2027 is already in the diary and I can’t wait to grow their skills even more.
