Imagine your loved one is experiencing a health crisis. You rush them to the emergency room, and as you do, you feel stress, fear, and even pain running through you like lightning. When you arrive, those feelings might become heightened, since due to pandemic restrictions you can’t accompany your loved one past the front door to comfort them, advocate for them, or get updates on their progress.
As you sit in your car waiting, you mentally prepare for what’s ahead. Depending on who else is already waiting, you know that it could be hours before your loved one sees a doctor. And if even more urgent cases come in, your wait could get longer, since life-threatening injuries must always take priority. Even knowing that, your fear and frustration can build, and tempers can flare.
Those circumstances are the same as what you can expect if you have to visit the ER at Animal Emergency Hospital Volusia. It’s especially hard – and even heartbreaking – to hand over your furry best friend for treatment, wait long hours for them to receive care, or make difficult choices about treatment quickly. Just like a human health hospital, emergency care is only part of what we do. We also have staff caring for surgical patients, constantly monitoring pets in our intensive care unit, and looking after special-needs pets in our medical boarding facility.
And just like a human hospital, our goals are the same: to remain 100% focused on the care of our patients. That sometimes means we have to tell you the wait will be a bit longer because we have an ICU dog who is going downhill. It may mean we have to call you with the news that your vomiting cat’s diagnosis is extremely dire, and we need your approval for serious, sometimes costly, treatment to save her life.
These conversations and situations are hard – for you, as the worried and scared pet parent, and for our team. If we sound rushed, it’s because we are. If we sound stressed, it’s because we are. But it never means that we don’t care, or that your pet is just a number on a chart. We have empathy and compassion for you because we know firsthand what you are going through. But we have to remain focused. If we allowed our emotions to overtake us, we couldn’t provide the care that you and your pets deserve.
We also understand that the pandemic-related safety protocols we have in place – curbside service, phone consultations, etc. – can be extra frustrating. But you see, if one of our team is exposed, our whole team (anyone who came in contact with the exposed team member), must be tested and quarantine, making us unavailable to come to work. Then we can’t help anyone, and pets in Volusia and Flagler counties have one less 24/7 emergency hospital to care for them when they’re most in need.
We work around the clock every day to help your beloved pets live happy, healthy lives for as long as they can, comfortably. We know these are stressful times, but please know that we are on your side. We are doing this for you. We appreciate your patience, kindness, and understanding as we all do the best we can for your pets.
If you think your pet requires emergency care, please give us a call. AEHV is open 24/7, and no appointment is ever needed. We ask that you call us at 386-252-0206 to alert us of your arrival and complete the admissions forms online.
