Heather Sidari is a credentialed veterinary technician specialist in anesthesia meaning that she’s advanced academically, and in practice in both anesthesia and analgesia. She is currently the ICU Supervisor at NC State University.

In this episode, Heather talks with me about pre-anesthesia treatments for a more comfortable experience for the patient, a smoother recovery, and tips that reduce the likelihood of complications during anesthesia.

Heather covers extremely helpful topics such as what a patient’s fasting time really should be, how to avoid the most uncomfortable part of anesthesia – nausea and vomiting, easier catheter placement, better timing with your pre-meds, when to recover in sternal NOT lateral recumbency, and standards for adequate hydration during surgical procedures.

Are you checking for any regurgitation with a laryngoscope before pulling the e-tube post-op and suctioning any off with a red rubber followed by a flush? Are you monitoring your patient’s pain level and dosing accordingly for the first 3 hours post-op? Are you keeping a pulse ox on your patient once your gas is off and using 02 to help them saturate on their own before they desaturate too quickly on room air? Did you have your antibiotics on board 30 minutes prior to cutting? Are you setting your patients up for in-hospital success by using PVPs such as the Chill Protocol? If you answered “no” to any of these questions – it may be time for a reboot in the OR for your technicians, nurses, and assistants that are administering and monitoring anesthetic events.

This episode is jam-packed with valuable information that makes patient care front and center. You’ll want to listen to this one twice to catch all of Heather’s wonderful tips that make such a difference for your patients’ anesthetic events.

RESOURCES FROM HEATHER:
Managing Anesthesia Recovery with Darcy Palmer, Clinician’s Brief: https://www.cliniciansbrief.com/article/managing-anesthesia-recovery-darci-palmer

Tasha McNerny, CVT, CVPP, VTS Veterinary Anesthesia Nerds: https://www.veterinaryanesthesianerds.com/copy-of-dan-boruta-1

Beckie Mosser and Dr. Ernie Ward – Veterinary Viewfinder Podcast: https://toppodcast.com/podcast_feeds/veterinary-viewfinder-podcast/

AAHA Anesthesia and Monitoring Guidelines (every technician and nurse should have a copy of this): https://www.aaha.org/globalassets/02-guidelines/2020-anesthesia/anesthesia_and_monitoring-guidelines_final.pdf

RESOURCES FOR YOUR CLIENTS:
Behavior, health, and wellness for pet parents – http://youtube.com/saraondrako