Hilton-Barber’s personal “Pandemic” experience was unexpectedly going blind in his early 20’s, having to face the daunting prospect of living the rest of his life in total darkness. His quality of life and level of success was radically transformed at the age of 50, not through sight restoration, but through changing his attitude to his circumstances. “Quality of life, and our ability to be happy, fulfilled and successful is not dependant on our circumstances, pandemic or not, but on our response to them”

Despite our best efforts, there will be times when work is especially challenging. This lecture is about what to do at those times – in that moment and just afterwards, when things can feel overwhelming, unmanageable, and shocking. We will talk you through practical strategies for yourself and your team, guiding you through the latest evidence on avoiding further psychological distress and building resilience. We will also explore how to spot when further help is needed, and where to seek support. This lecture is for everyone who wishes to learn how to manage these times in a psychologically safe way.

Haemorrhage is one of the main causes of death in trauma patients, and so, good trauma resuscitation can be key to a successful outcome. It starts with recognising shock as part of your primary survey, and with the aid of point-of-care blood diagnostics and continues with prompt and targeted resuscitation. This lecture will review the aforementioned diagnostic approach, as well as the use of blood products, antifibrinolytics, and damage control surgery as part of trauma resuscitation.

This lecture will discuss surgical procedures in the emergency setting, including a brief discussion of how extensive such interventions should be and when early referral is indicated, as well as when surgeries should be performed for greatest impact.

Emergency surgery is just that – an emergency – that often needs to happen as soon as possible. But immediate anaesthesia should not be an excuse for not preparing the patient or the nursing team, it’s even more reason to prepare! This lecture will cover the important body systems and treatments that must be treated and assessed prior to emergency anaesthesia to ensure a smooth procedure and successful patient recovery.

What should you do when things start to go wrong under anaesthesia? This session will look at specific cases, allowing for interactivity and discussion throughout.

Professional misconduct, negligence or just bad luck? This session will discuss what happens when things go wrong in clinical veterinary practice. What should we do and how do we go about reporting, auditing and learning from significant events?

Achieving adequate blood flow are oxygenation are the most important goals of CPR. Learn how to optimize your CPR attempts with the best evidence-based practices for basic life support in dogs and cats.

Have you ever struggled with a cat in severe congestive heart failure, or a dog with a life-threatening ventricular arrhythmia? Most of us have, and with enough experience we all develop a basic protocol for treating these cases. But what if things are not so straightforward? What if we identify comorbidities or witness adverse events after treatment? This interactive (bring devices!), case-based session will run through a number of challenging, real-life cases featuring cardiac emergencies, and as a team we can try to get to the heart of how best to manage these potential disasters in practice.

Dystocia is a common presentation in emergency practice and often comes with a unique set of challenges for the clinician. In this presentation we will discuss how to manage both the clinical challenges, but also the non-clinical challenges including the management of finances when emotions are running high.

Rise and shine with this short and strong Vinyasa flow sequence suitable for all levels.

How can we easily distinguish cardiac from non-cardiac causes of respiratory distress? What should the real-life priorities be in the ER for emergency heart failure? When should treatment go beyond furosemide and oxygen, and how do we decide when to provide this more intensive care? This session will focus on answering these questions, in addition to providing detail on how to escalate care for the patients with the very worst cases of congestive heart failure, and a beginners’ guide to making a diagnosis of underlying disorder based on signalment and basic echo findings.

Intentional presence is key to maintaining performance under pressure, remain in control when everything around you is changing and to manage your time and your energy effectively. Developing the ability to press pause, reflect and proactively manage your emotions, actions and behaviours as you go through the day is an essential skill to be aware of, to gain and to hone. During this session, we will discuss the habits that high performers adopt and how you can be present and be confident with the decisions you make and the actions you take on a daily basis to get what you want and need from your work and your life.

‘Burnout’: what does it mean? Why are some professions more at risk? How can you identify it? This lecture will take you through the characteristics of the lived reality of burnout, looking at risks as individuals and teams, signs to look out for, and examining the impact that it can have in practice. We will outline empirically informed psychological approaches to tackling the risk of burnout, from what you can do as an individual, to exciting opportunities for organisational change. This lecture is for everyone who is interested in maintaining services from the perspective that workforce is your most valuable asset.

As much as none of us ever want to make mistakes, we do, and it’s ok, as long as we take responsibility for them, and learn from them so that ideally, we don’t make the same mistake again. One early time that I screwed up in my career was shortly after I had been to an awesome conference and learned all kinds of new and exciting things from the exceptional line up of specialists. Unfortunately, my approach to applying what I had learned missed the mark and resulted in an adverse outcome for a patient. In this session I’ll tell you that story, which might provide you with some food for thought as you go back into your practices after this conference.

A walk through that ‘what do I do now?’ moment when you know there is no help available. This will look at how I dealt with that moment and survived, along with the patient.

This lecture will focus on the principles of why we monitor critical patients, as well as the advantages and disadvantages of different monitoring techniques and machines, specifically for the ICU patient. We will also discuss what to do if you are working on a budget or if the “ideal gadget” is not available to you.

‘Something isn’t right’. Serious adverse events, such as unexpected death and cardiac arrest, are often preceded by observable physiological and clinical abnormalities. This lecture will cover many aspects of how and why patients deteriorate and the best way to detect and assess them while also escalating care appropriately. By closely monitoring changes in observations and interpreting early signs of decline, nurses are more likely to identify, manage and therefore avoid serious adverse events before they occur. It is inevitable that we care for patients who deteriorate, nurses need to be a step ahead and recognise the subtle signs of deterioration.

Once blood flow and ventilation are addressed, adjunctive advanced life support (ALS) interventions like drug and defibrillation therapy can improve odds of survival even more. Review the RECOVER ALS algorithm to better understand the principles and timing of these interventions.

As professionals, we are called on to make multiple decisions every day. Whilst many of these relate to the clinical care of our patients, some of the toughest dilemmas we face relate to challenges with communication, teamwork and those relating to our ethical framework. These can be magnified when we work in a high stakes emergency environment. During this session, a panel of experienced clinicians will share professional dilemmas they have encountered in their career. We will discuss how these are impacted by the professional codes that we all operate within. Your input is important too and we would love to hear your perspective on our dilemmas and any of your own.

Following on from Claire Sharp’s pre-recorded lecture, “Diagnosing the IMHA patient”, this session will discuss the principles of immune-suppression and advice on adjunctive therapies and the evidence for their use, as well as side effects of immune-modulating drugs. This lecture will offer tips on how to decide when the drugs aren’t working and what to escalate to, as well as what testing can be performed to guide decision-making.

This session will be structured in a pro:con fashion and focus on the use of fibrinolytic drugs in cats, and to a lesser extent dogs, with arterial thromboembolism. Arterial thromboembolism is associated with a high morbidity and mortality, and a high level of emotional stress for both owners and vets. Is there only one way out, or should we try to treat these cats? What is the consensus on clot-busting drugs? How can we manage any complications along the way? This head-to-head discussion and audience Q&A will address these issues and more, delving into the ethics and practicalities of treating cats with ATE.

When an emergency patient presents, the most common intervention is the administration of intravenous fluids. This lecture will cover the approach to fluid therapy in the Emergency Room, covering the how, why and when of fluid therapy for anyone new to emergency medicine.

Respiratory distress is life-threatening; characterised by severe dyspnoea and hypoxaemia. It is a common presentation in veterinary medicine and often challenging. Prompt, successful emergency management is paramount with rapid assessment and stabilisation being key.
This lecture is all about saving the severely distressed respiratory patient – from the time of initial presentation, to the time the patient is stabilised. Topics will cover subjects such as the importance of the prompt recognition of dyspnoea, its clinical presentations, initial stabilisation of the patient, oxygen therapy and thoracocentesis as well as the importance of minimising patient stress in these very often, fragile, decompensated patients.

What to do when placing a trach tube – top tips and tricks! This session will look at how to identify and stabilise, how to sedate/anaesthetise safely (where applicable) and, importantly, how to keep calm! It will also offer technical tips and discuss what to do afterwards.

The triple crises of global heating, biodiversity loss and resource scarcity are an obvious threat; but what effect are they having on healthcare providers, how much is the veterinary sector contributing to their cause, and is there anything we can realistically do? In this session we will show that through transformative change, we can realise the opportunities from including the environmental sustainability into working veterinary practices, and also mitigate and adapt to the effects of the current ecological crises. We will look at pragmatic steps we can take, and how sustainability will benefit your business using the experiences gained at a private UK referral hospital in gaining their Investors in the Environment accreditation.

Despite working in the same building, sometimes It can seem like your co-workers are working on different planets. Communication and lack of respect between the groups can cause culture problems in the hospital and lead to poor client service and patient care. This talk will discuss some ideas for creating culture change and improving communication between all teams. Taught by a reformed passive aggressive communicator, this lecture will use case studies to illustrate the benefits of saying what you mean the first time, and how to get your point across while still maintaining your compassion and sanity.

The process of coagulation - how things appear in clinical veterinary cases and how we might diagnose and assess coagulopathies in the clinic.

This is the rhythm of the night… about 2am to be exact, and the rhythm doesn’t look very friendly. Is the rhythm going to get your patient or will you step in to stabilise their heart? Don’t be a slave to the rhythm – learn to master emergency-room ECGs and make on-the-spot decisions about whether to treat, and which antiarrhythmic drug choices to make. Learn to turn the beat around and beat it before it beats you.

As professionals, we encounter many dilemmas, some of the most challenging are linked to communication, teamwork and those relating to our ethical framework. During this interactive session, the panel will share some of the dilemmas they have faced during their career and discuss how these are impacted by the professional code we work within. Please come along and share your thoughts on our dilemmas and any of your own.

If you’re not familiar with Yin yoga, it is a beautifully relaxing style of yoga where we hold postures for several minutes at a time. It’s really good for calming the mind, releasing tension, and improving flexibility, and it’s a perfect style for night-time.

This Hatha alignment-focussed class will connect body, mind and breath, to explore ways to correct posture, release tension and appreciate what your body can do. Suitable for all levels.

This lecture will cover common and not so common endocrine emergencies such as DKA HHS and hypoadrenocorticism. Pathophysiology, diagnosis, comorbidities/complications and treatment will be discussed, as well as some useful and practical tips.

There has been a relatively recent move in human trauma patient care away from using clear fluids in trauma patient resuscitation, and towards the early, aggressive use of blood products. But is this the right thing to do in veterinary patients? Should we just follow their lead? Or do we need a different approach for cats and dogs experiencing trauma? This session will debate the pros and cons of clear fluids in trauma.

Stabbing a needle towards the heart is associated with a certain level of stress, especially if you’re relatively inexperienced in pericardiocentesis. Here, our speaker will take you on their journey towards a successful method of pericardiocentesis, including a frank review of the cases that did not go well and what was learned along the way. By sharing some drainage tips and tricks, we hope that your learning curve is significantly less steep than it might be.

Building on our earlier talk (‘keeping your team going when the going gets tough’) that explored team resilience in dealing with challenging times in-the-moment, this talk focuses on a longer view. How can we create a resilient team? What can threaten our team’s resilience? How can we identify, rebuild and support a team that is struggling to bounce back from a difficult experience, or a series of demanding situations? This talk will outline the latest models of team resilience and explore empirically supported strategies to help foster a resilient team approach in order to better weather the storms of clinical practice.

What do we tell owners when things haven’t gone to plan? This session will focus on the importance of clear communication, especially during difficult or stressful circumstances. Knowing what to say and when can be crucial in preventing complaints.

An understanding of the basic mechanisms of clot formation and breakdown is the critical foundation for any clinician treating bleeding disorders. A brief review of the steps of clot formation and fibrinolysis will be used to frame best practices for diagnosis and treatment of bleeding patients.

How do you get it all done? Multiple emergencies arriving at the same time, multiple treatments ordered at the same time, multiple patients requiring monitoring, and you need to eat a snack and maybe even drink some water. Before you panic, this lecture will offer practical knowledge on critical thinking skills and prioritizing medical needs that will help veterinary nurses organize their day, provide the best care for their patients, and maintain their sanity through a busy shift.

Are you sure it’s not you? The emergency room can be packed with stressors that degrade our communication with each other leading to increased stress, increasing mistakes, and can even affect our ability to provide excellent patient care. Come to this talk and learn some communication strategies to recognize the problems and how to work through the different personalities on your team to improve communication and teamwork.

Dyspnoea and collapse are very common presenting complaints in emergency practice and every case brings challenges, both diagnostically and therapeutically. In this forum, a panel of experienced clinicians will discuss cardiac and respiratory emergency cases that they have grappled with. The session will be interactive, and we’ll discuss with the audience some of the dilemmas that face us as we deal with major body system disorders in fragile emergency & critically ill patients. Your input on what we did well and what we could have done differently is very welcome.

This session will be a case-based approach to apply the new ACVIM Consensus Statement on the Diagnosis of IMHA. It will include a view of the diagnostic algorithm from the Consensus Statement, a revised understanding of pathomechanisms, and infectious disease considerations.

A creatinine of 700! Do we euthanise or give a bucket-load of fluids?! This lecture will discuss some of the differentials of AKI, as well as providing a (modern) set of guidelines of how to treat, monitor and prognosticate these patients. Cases that may require urgent referral for IR/bypass procedures will be considered and discussed.

This presentation will discuss the emergency neurological patient, especially with respect to intoxicants affecting the nervous system.
As neurotoxins often cause rapid onset of severe neurological symptoms it is important to have a handle on how to deal with these patients if they arrive at your practice. We will cover initial triage and treatment of seizuring patients followed by decontamination techniques and other supportive care measures, including how to manage the hyperthermia that often accompanies prolonged seizures. We will also discuss specific common neurotoxins along with where to find practice resources to help you when dealing with poisoned patients.

Many hospitalized cats and dogs suffer from poor appetite, low body condition scores, sarcopenia, and weight loss. Malnutrition compromises the immune system, slows healing, prolongs the hospital stay time, and increases the rates of morbidity and mortality. One of the main goals of nutritional support is to prevent or slow the use of protein for gluconeogenesis, along with maintaining the patient’s weight and supporting the immune function. The choice of diet, the feeding and monitoring protocols, and the feeding method are the vital aspects of nutritional support for hospitalized patients.

The gastrointestinal tract is impacted directly by diet more than any other body part. It is affected by the diet macronutrient and micronutrient, the frequency and timing of meals, and the dietary effect on the microbiome. The diet can have a negative or positive effect. It may contain toxins, allergens, nutritional excesses or deficiencies, and has a direct effect on GI physiology, affecting motility, cell renewal rate, enzyme production, immune functions, ammonia production, and volatile fatty acid content. Nutrition plays a key role in the management of many GI diseases and some cases may be managed solely by dietary therapy.

During the spring of 2020, the world changed and throughout our professions, vets and nurses found ourselves working in ways we never expected. Balancing our duty to support animal health and welfare with wider public health priorities in the face of a disease that science is only just beginning to understand was never going to be easy. In this session we will explore how the pandemic impacted our professions and reflect on what we have learnt to date.

This lecture follows on from "What to do when it’s not a dog or a cat: Nursing exotic emergencies" and aims to go into a little more detail with regards to some of the general nursing skills discussed in the first lecture. Topics discussed will include handling, supportive care, nutrition, fluid therapy, blood sampling and routes of administration of medication. As with the previous lecture the species covered will include the more common small mammals, birds and reptiles.

Many different species of exotic, or non-traditional companion, animals are currently kept in the UK and so may be presented to veterinary practice. In the authors' opinion, veterinary professionals often are not confident when presented with an exotic patient. These lectures aim to give an overview of the common reasons exotic species may be presented to veterinary practice. Species discussed will include the more common small mammals, birds and reptiles. Individual nursing considerations for the species will be touched on as well as triage, hospitalisation, initial stabilisation and some common presentations for each species/group.

Administering blood products is an increasingly commonplace procedure in ECC practice, however, if transfusions are unfamiliar, they can be a daunting prospect. This lecture will cover brief indications for the different blood products and where to get them, recipient pre-compatibility testing and how to safely prepare and administer the blood products.

Approximately 25% of severely injured human patients are presented with a clinically significant coagulopathy that develops minutes after the initial traumatic insult. This coagulopathy, termed the acute coagulopathy of trauma and shock (ACoTS), is associated with a fourfold increase in mortality. This advanced session will focus on this clinical condition, giving you all you need to know in a high-speed, no fluff, high impact session, and will cover:

• What is it?
• Evidence in people
• Evidence in animals
• Interactive discussion between the speakers looking at what treatments are recommended and the evidence behind them

After successful CPR, 80% of veterinary patients are lost in the post-cardiac arrest (PCA) period. Learn a systematic approach to managing patients in the PCA period to maximize survival rates.

Following on from my general trauma resuscitation lecture, this session will incorporate how to use viscoelastic tests (TEG/ROTEM/VCM) to guide blood product administration in trauma patients. Specialised blood products such as fresh and stored whole blood, refrigerated plasma, and cryoprecipitate will also be discussed.

An outline and description of damage control surgery with case examples. This lecture will explain how and when this might be something we should develop further in veterinary medicine.

“For the things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing them.” How do we get better at the things we need to do? Is it just by reading papers, attending lectures and repetition, or are there more effective ways? In this lecture, we will discuss some of the different methods for development of expertise that cognitive psychologists have identified over the last 10-15 years and explore how we might apply them to veterinary emergency & critical care in order to further our own ability and improve our patients’ outcomes.

This session will explore the meaning and styles of yoga and meditation, present some of the evidence-based benefits of a regular practice, and give you ideas on how to realistically fit them into your busy working lives. It finishes with a veterinary-themed guided meditation to help you relax and re-charge!

Financial concerns are be a big factor in our day-to-day stress levels. What simple and straightforward steps can we take to get a handle on our money whilst still sticking to our life goals? During this session we will discuss where you are currently with your financial goals and identify a plan to move forward, with the aim to help you feel more in control and what to do next to plan for your future.

You’ve seen a thousand of these cases before, with successes and failures, but now you feel like you’ve got the approach down to a fine art. The only trouble is, the evidence is equivocal (who would have guessed) and your colleague disagrees with you: vehemently! How do you approach a difference of clinical opinion and sort out tensions between personnel without making it personal, for the best benefit of your patient and the remainder of your team? Amanda Boag will walk you through how she has learnt how to resolve clinical conflicts without violence!

This 30-minute lecture will discuss the daunting experience of public speaking. It will draw from personal experiences and share wise words collected over the years from esteemed colleagues with decades of lecturing experience. We will review suggestions on presentation design and format, how to prepare what you’re going to say, ways to calm nerves, and how to best engage your audience and deliver a great presentation.

Leading a team of strong, intelligent, dedicated individuals can be difficult. This session aims to give leaders (whether managerial or clinical) greater insight into how to align goals, identify and understand problems and conflict, and ultimately create stronger teams. Understanding yours and your team members’ idiosyncrasies are key to making this breakthrough and this session will get you there.