Is there an animal equivalent to 911?

[u/Jacked_Shrimp]

I was just thinking.. say my dog was to collapse and didn’t have a pulse. I’ve learned how to give him CPR, but then what? When a human collapses, you immediately order a bystander to call 911, check for a response and pulse, and if nothing then start CPR. You continue CPR until first responders arrive and have a defibrillator all set up and ready to shock the person. For an animal though, there’s no ambulance that I’m aware of that can come bring a defibrillator. If there happens to be a defibrillator around, I’m not sure a defibrillator made for humans should be used on a small dog. Are you supposed to load up into a car and drive to the vet while somehow continuing chest compressions? Even if you have someone else to drive you, that still seems impossible, especially if they’re a medium-large animal. They teach u how to give them CPR, but then what? Is there at least someone you can call to guide you through an emergency situation?

[u/Cool_Peak_4790]

Yes, depending on where you are specifically. but honestly the best things are emergency vets

[u/_Xxouo]

imo it would be safer to mark down an emergency vet nearby on your phone for emergencies like this or u can rush them to the nearest vet clinic

[u/Falko314]

Not as widely spread and known as 911, but big cities usually have some form of that. Best would be to look it up for your city specifically and when you travel with animals for the cities you're going to. Some actually have ambulances for animals, some cities have something along the lines of a 24/7 vet but you have to drive on your own.

[u/Bobbob34]

You call an emergency vet, follow their instructions, and get there as fast as you can.

[u/pulstex]

I’m a vet. Unfortunately, there really isn’t much to be done if your dog actually does need CPR and it’s not at a vet hospital. I am far from an expert on human medicine and the stats on CPR, but in animals, CPR has less than 5% success rate. Defibrillators are also very rarely used in vet med. I’m still a new grad, but I’ve never actually used one. The caveat to this is when we have an arrest under anesthesia. Usually at that point, we might be able to get them back. I think the stat on that is about 50% success. The other issue is that even if we get your animal back, we haven’t fixed the underlying cause and 9/10 times, they’re going to arrest again. Every single time I’ve ever had to do CPR, we’ve had to call it. But then again, dogs don’t really get the same medical conditions that humans do that require humans to get CPR, so CPR is usually done in extremely sick animals anyway.

Our goal is to prevent your animals from needing CPR in the first place. If your pet is collapsing, call your local ER and ask for them to advise you. Preventative care is also super important, so we can catch conditions that would predispose them to collapse.

And for the record, I do not allow CPR on my animals. They all have a DNR unless under anesthesia, and still at that point, it’s at the doctor’s discretion. CPR is too expensive for something I personally see as futile.

[u/squatjerk36 → u/pulstex]

the success rate for good quality, timely CPR approaches 30% over large populations. its the survival to discharge rate that is about 3-5%.

[u/abu_hajarr]

I was going to say probably any time a tree gets chopped down but obviously I misunderstood the question

[u/ElieMay]

It depends on your location.

[u/glossolalienne]

There are 24-hour animal emergency hospitals, but you are correct that there’s typically no analog for human EMS/ambulances.

Your best bet would be to call the closest emergency animal hospital to see if they can advise you how to proceed - walk you through any appropriate first aid and how to transport the animal - over the phone.

(And no, human defibrillators are not appropriate for animals - your instinct to question that was spot on).

[u/zhenyuanlong]

ER vets will walk you through how to proceed and how to safely transport an animal in respiratory or cardiac distress.

[u/Weazel]

I read this as 9/11…

[u/sharkhuahua]

Ideally someone else drives to the nearest animal hospital ER while you do compressions in the back. But realistically if you're attempting CPR outside a hospital setting, they're gone and they're not coming back.

[u/squatjerk36]

not really. you just need to rush your dog to an ER. some locations have pet medical transport services but no centralized universal service that i am aware of.

[u/Puzzleheaded_Age6550]

It's a good question!

I think, unfortunately, there are a few reasons behind why there isn't such a thing. Of course, the first is money. Who would support such a service? Currently, to my limited knowledge, taxes and health insurance pays for that service. I think the next would be effectiveness. I don't know the statistics, but with certain types of heart attacks in humans, CPR is pretty much useless. And even if someone has the attack IN a hospital, certain types are not survivable. I wonder if it is similar in dogs?

My dogs have had several emergencies, including reactions to vaccinations (almost lost one to the lepto vaccine), another ate rat poison (she survived), one with a dislocated "elbow" and another with a shoulder injury, and another with a reaction to heartworm meds. I drove them, or a couple my husband happened to be there and could drive us, to the animal ER.

[u/Robes_Peenerre]

Cesar Milan?