• Home
  • Shelter Med 101
    • COVID-19 Resources
    • Top Five
    • Shelter Standards
    • Textbooks
    • Shelter Education
    • Top Webinars
    • Spay-Neuter Resources
    • Trap, Neuter, Return
    • Medical Protocols
    • Practice Guidelines
    • Position statements
  • Organizations
    • Canadian Sheltering
    • Canadian Vet and Tech
    • U.S. Sheltering
  • Events
    • Event Calendar
    • Event List
  • CE Archives
  • Members
    • Member Login
    • Join or Renew
    • Manage Account
    • Committee Sign-Up
    • Members Directory
    • Membership Map
    • Official Documents
  • About
    • About
    • Partners
    • Leadership
    • Contact Us
Join Today! Member Login

Upcoming Events

  • Behavior Job-Alike
    Thu Mar 30 2023, 11:00 EDT - 12:00 EDT
  • Animal Care Expo
    Mon Apr 3 2023 - Thu Apr 6 2023
  • Behavior Job-Alike
    Thu Apr 27 2023, 11:00 EDT - 12:00 EDT
Donate

CASCMA Blog

  • Protected: What Does a Positive PCR Really Mean? Lessons From Ringworm, Parvo, Panleukopenia And COVID-19 March 16, 2023
  • Beyond “Doing Better”: Ordinal Rating Scales to Monitor Behavioural Indicators in Well-Being of Cats February 28, 2023
  • Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease: What Shelter Practitioners Need to Know January 9, 2023
  • There’s No Such Thing As An Ugly Bunny! Rabbit Spay and Neuter Pearls December 15, 2022
View more posts

Subscribe to Blog

Members’ Facebook Group

Medical Protocols

The Power of Protocols

In any busy and complex environment, protocols streamline and improve care and processes. Protocols also allow shelters to practice evidence-based medicine based on current standards of care.

In a 2015 survey of 60 ASV members, 90% agreed that protocols offer more consistent medical care, 75% agreed that they save time, and 62% agreed that they improve quality of care. The main barrier to creating and updating protocols was lack of time. Of the respondents, 81% said they do or would use existing protocols from other shelters as a starting point.

Medical Protocols from the Toronto Humane Society

The THS veterinary team has developed a large number of medical protocols that it shares, upon request, with veterinarians and veterinary students (only) who are involved in animal sheltering. Contact us to request the Dropbox link. 

Existing protocols and material for protocol development

These are our top resources for protocol development and protocols: 

  • Koret Shelter Medicine Program  
  • Maddie’s Fund 
  • ASPCA Pro Protocols 
  • Association of Shelter Veterinarians 
  • Center for Shelter Dogs 
  • Clinician’s Brief 
  • Veterinary Information Network (includes a Shelter Medicine Message Board)
  • Veterinary Practice Guidelines and Consensus Statements 

 The Checklist Manifesto

Human surgeon and medical philosopher elegantly explains in his books, The Checklist Manifesto, Better, and Complications, why protocols and checklists are essential for modern medical (and, by extension, veterinary) practice and how they empower us to practice better medicine and minimize medical errors. Start with The Checklist Manifesto.

  • Home
  • Contact Us
  • Membership
  • Directory
  • Events
Association websites powered by MembershipWorks