EMERGENCY AND CRITICAL CARE – POCUS, Emergency Decision-Making & Life-Saving Procedures
EMERGENCY AND CRITICAL CARE
CRITICAL MOMENTS – POCUS, Emergency Decision-Making & Life-Saving Procedures
A two-day hands-on emergency and critical care course for small-animal practitioners
Course description:
Practical POCUS and Essential Emergency Procedures
Managing emergency patients requires rapid decision-making, sound clinical reasoning, and practical skills that can immediately influence patient outcome. This highly interactive two-day course combines point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS), case-based emergency medicine, and hands-on training in essential emergency procedures to help practitioners gain confidence when dealing with critically ill patients.
The first day is dedicated to abdominal, thoracic, and cardiovascular POCUS. Through a combination of lectures and extensive practical sessions in small groups, participants will learn how to obtain diagnostic-quality images, recognise normal and abnormal findings, and integrate ultrasound into their diagnostic approach. Practical training will be complemented by discussions on the clinical application of POCUS and its role in everyday veterinary practice. Particular emphasis will be placed on understanding both the strengths and limitations of this increasingly valuable diagnostic modality.
During the second day, participants will work through a series of common emergency and critical care scenarios. Through discussions they will cover the diagnostic and therapeutic approach to common emergency conditions, whilst appreciating the impact financial and practical contraints may have. The focus will be on practical decision-making and the management strategies clinicians can implement in general practice.
The afternoon is devoted to hands-on emergency procedures frequently required in critically ill patients. Participants will have the opportunity to develop practical skills in obtaining vascular access, ultrasound-guided catheter placement, thoracocentesis, thoracic drain placement, and assisted enteral feeding techniques under close supervision.
Throughout the weekend, the emphasis is firmly placed on translating knowledge into clinical practice. Participants will leave with practical techniques, greater confidence in managing emergencies, and skills that can be immediately implemented in their clinics.
Learning objectives
By the end of the course participants should be able to:
- Perform focused abdominal, thoracic and cardiovascular POCUS examinations with confidence.
- Recognise the most clinically important normal and abnormal POCUS findings.
- Understand how POCUS findings can guide emergency decision-making.
- Develop a practical approach to common emergency and critical care presentations.
- Improve confidence in the stabilisation and management of critically ill patients.
- Perform a range of essential emergency procedures, including vascular access techniques, thoracocentesis, thoracic drain placement, and feeding tube placement.
Dr Kris Gommeren
Dipl. ECVIM-CA, ECVECC , PhD
Kris Gommeren graduated from Ghent University in 2002, where he completed an internship and residency in internal medicine. In 2009, he became a diplomate of the European College of Internal Medicine and worked briefly in a referral practice before moving to the University of Liège, where he developed the ECC service.
This emergency and intensive care service of the University of Liège has grown into a service with a team of 14 veterinarians, including specialists, residents in training, ECC-dedicated veterinarians, assisted by 6 ECC veterinary nurses and rotating interns. Together they see more than 3,500 emergency cases every year, offering the best possible care including mechanical ventilation, extracorporeal therapies and transfusions to an average of 8 intensive care patients per day; whilst teaching students the necessary day one competencies about this field.
In 2017, Kris became a diplomate of the European College of Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care and in the meantime completed a PhD on the effects of systemic inflammation on the cardiovascular system.
He is a recover certified instructor and completed the hemodialysis academy. His research focus is on clinical medicine, and he is the author of peer reviewed papers, book(s), chapters and sections that all aim to help all veterinary practitioners.
Kris is former president of the European Society of Emergency and Critical Care (EVECCS), founding member of the Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care UltraSound (VECCUS) interest group, and co-founder of the Animal Blood Bank Benelux.
He is passionate about teaching, especially on point-of-care ultrasound, assessment of the cardiovascular system in critically ill patients, fluid therapy, transfusion medicine and the assessment of volume status and fluid responsiveness.
| Time | Title |
| 09:00-10:30 | POCUS Thorax and Cardiovascular Theory |
| 10.30-11.00 | Break |
| 11.00-13.30 | POCUS Thorax en Cardiovascular Practical LIVE DOGS |
| 13.30-14.30 | Lunch break |
| 14.30-16.00 | POCUS Abdomen theory and case based discussions |
| 16.00-16.30 | Break |
| 16.30-18.00 | POCUS Abdomen and Thorax Cadavers |
DAY 2
| Time | Title |
| 09:00-10:30 | ECC Fundamentals –Case Discussions 1 |
| 10.30-11.00 | Break |
| 11.00-13.30 | ECC Fundamentals – Case Discussions 2 (DKA; L-CHF severe dyspnea; acute vomiting dog; blocked cat with hyperkalemia) |
| 13.30-14.30 | Lunch break |
| 14.30-16.00 | Intraosseous / central vein / POCUS guided catheter placement POCUS guided Thoracocentesis / Thoracic drain placement Nasogastric and esophageal feeding tube placement |
| 16.00-16.30 | Break |
| 16.30-18.00 | Recap and Q&A for this ECC camp |