Life at the Emergency Animal Hospital of Ellicott City
I want to paint a picture for you: It’s 8 in the morning, most people are just waking up to go to work, but the emergency animal hospital is already packed with animals that need help. Dogs barking, towels needed left and right. No day is the same here. Yet the staff is always prepared, whether it's an easy day with appointments or animals who need emergency CPR, they know how to quickly adapt to what's going on, focus, and move quickly with compassion.
Hello, my name is Yisela Shooman. I go to the University of Maryland, College Park. I’m studying Agricultural Business Management as a two-year certificate, and then I plan to pursue a bachelor's degree in Animal Science. I interned at the Emergency Animal Hospital of Ellicott City this summer. Working in this environment has shown me how different this job is from just a regular 9-5; no two days are alike. At a typical job, you know what is expected of you, you know your daily tasks, but at the hospital, you never know what kind of case you will get when those doors open. Here I want to talk about my accomplishments and a day in my life.
First of all, all my accomplishments couldn't have been fulfilled without these amazing people helping me along the way. I was very novice and inexperienced. I made mistakes, but I was redirected to do things the right way. I’ve learned how to give CPR to critical patients, how to place an IV catheter, how to take standard vitals on different animals such as rabbits, dogs, cats, birds, hamsters, hedgehogs, and lizards. I also learned how to properly sanitize surgical tools and how to properly clean cages. All of these accomplishments come in handy with critical cases when most people are focused on retrieving medicine or inserting an oxygen line.
My usual schedule looked like 8-4 while the techs and veterinarians worked 10 am-10 pm or 8 am- 8 pm. If there are no critical patients when everyone arrives, we all have a meeting where the night shift fills us in on what happened during the night, what patients came in, what was going on, how they behaved, and what medications have been given or need to be given. After the night shift leaves, I start to do my daily tasks like continuous cycles of washing and drying towels, which are constantly being used, washing cages and dishes also mopping and sweeping. When patients do come in, I go in with the doctors and see what patients' concerns are. When critical cases come in, we assess them right away. Sometimes we win these battles, others we lose, but the techs always make sure they provide the best care to these animals. When things calm down and most animals have been attended to, people usually start to eat their lunches and snacks. The techs don’t have scheduled breaks because anything can happen at any time, so they look for a window where things are starting to wind down. In these times, I start to restock items like towels, sterile tools, and I start to clean the floors in cases where bodily fluids have spilled. Around 4 is when I go home, and I usually thank everyone for their time and head home.
Overall, this internship was a great experience, and a great jump start to learning what emergency care is like. Now, even more than ever, I want to continue this career in the future to help animals. These accomplishments have expanded my knowledge more than I thought, and the life of a vet tech is something I want to do as a job. All battles can't be won, but at least we know we did everything in our power to help.
