SouthPaws Criticare: Answering Some of Your Most Frequently Asked Questions

What type of patients should be referred to CritiCare?

CritiCare accepts urgent referrals from veterinarians 24 hours a day, 7
days a week. The patient may have a traumatic injury, be critically ill with
diabetic ketoacidosis, be seizuring repeatedly, have acutely decompensated
congestive heart failure, or require blood components to treat an anemia or
coagulopathy.

Plain and simple, we rely on YOU to be the green flag for the urgent
referrals.

What type of patient should not be referred to CritiCare?

If a patient needs the attention of a specific SouthPaws specialist and
it is mutually agreed upon between doctors that a direct appointment is the
best approach for that patient, your urgent referral may not require the
services of CritiCare. All departments at SouthPaws have a system in place
to handle urgent referrals and you may find that the specialist can see your
client on a same-day basis. If their system is filled to maximal capacity
and they cannot see the patient within a reasonable timeframe, the specialist
can then help you arrange referral to CritiCare to keep your patient stable
until they can evaluate the case.

Does CritiCare provide full-service emergency care for my non-referred
clients?

Yes! CritiCare provides full-service walk-in emergency care for your
client’s pets after hours, weekends, and holidays, 365 days per year.
CritiCare is staffed with emergency-care trained veterinarians and
technicians, 24 hours a day. They are here to provide emergency care for
your cleints when you choose. You may recommend SouthPaws CritiCare to your
clients by placing our emergency phone number - 703-569-0300 - on the
afterhours recording at your practice.

How does CritiCare help provide specialty consultations and services on
hospitalized patients?

It is not uncommon for CritiCare to accept a referred patient who needs
one or more specialists’ input or specific diagnostic test on an urgent
basis. CritiCare staff veterinarians can arrange emergency consultations
with SouthPaws specialists on a case by case basis, based on that specific
patient’s needs. SouthPaws specialists are dedicated to providing that extra
helping hand to further elevate your patient’s level of critical care. The
attending CritiCare staff veterinarian can also help your patient get that
emergency ultrasound, echocardio-gram, or endoscopy. These services usually
require that the CritiCare staff veterinarian be the contact person for your
client to review the results of the emergency consultation or procedure.
CritiCare veterinarians also are your preliminary contact person for those
results. They facilitate providing you the same, in-depth consultation
reports they will use to manage that critical patient.

Does CritiCare automatically transfer emergency cases to its SouthPaws
specialty services the following morning?

No! CritiCare staff veterinarians always contact you before transfers or
consults are discussed with or offered your to client. If you have
pre-approved a transfer or consult, CritiCare staff will still contact you to
let you know your instructions are being carried out and to give you an
update. CritiCare’s policies reflect the trust you place in us to provide
emergency and critical care services for your clients.

Are all CritiCare staff doctors interns?

No! None of our staff doctors are interns. We have four staff doctors
who work exclusively for CritiCare, all of whom have completed internships in
emergency and critical care facilities prior to working in our ER/ICU.
SouthPaws does also have an active internship program which currently carries
five interns per year. During our interns’ rotations, they work with our
CritiCare staff veterinarians. Our interns also receive over 50 hours of
emergency and critical care education presented by a board-certified
intensivist, completed within the first three months of their SouthPaws
intership.

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