The Veterinary Technology program at Southern Regional Technical College (SRTC) is taking part in a worldwide effort to train Veterinarians and Veterinary Technicians in the most current, evidence-based emergency life-saving techniques for cats and dogs. 

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the RECOVER Initiative extended a Cardiopulmonary  Resuscitation (CPR) training to students of accredited universities and colleges with veterinary training programs at no cost to the students or their institutions. The RECOVER Initiative is a non-profit, volunteer-based program within the American College of Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care (ACVECC) and Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care Society (VECCS) dedicated to conducting high-quality education, evidence search, and guideline creation.

As of May 2020, over 160 schools in 23 countries had registered with the program and 18,507 students enrolled in the online evidence-based canine and feline CPR training, the signature program of the RECOVER Initiative. As of July 15, 2020, 83% of SRTC’s Veterinary Technology current program students and 100% of the recent graduates had completed the training. 

“We had already covered canine CPR in our labs, but this training deepened my knowledge and confidence in emergency care for cats and dogs,” said SRTC Vet Tech student Savannah Maton.

The online training module covers Basic Life Support (BLS) consisting of five modules including concepts in assessing a non-responsive  patient, performing chest compressions and ventilation during CPR, as well as team communication, and Advanced Life Support (ALS) consisting of three modules detailing concepts in patient monitoring, vascular access, drug administration, and defibrillation. The next step towards becoming a RECOVER Certified Rescuer is participation in the in-person training and skills assessment. 

“The Executive Board of the RECOVER Initiative believes that CPR training is essential for students in veterinary training programs,” said Jamie Burkitt, DVM, DACVECC, who is a co-chair to the RECOVER Initiative. “We hope that our online training modules help students continue to learn these critical skills in our new, virtual world.”

About the RECOVER Initiative

In response to the need for consistent, effective, evidence-based CPR protocols for dogs and cats. RECOVER was conceived in 2010 as the Reassessment Campaign on Veterinary Resuscitation initiative by a team of veterinary emergency and critical care specialists with the goal of developing and disseminating the first true evidence-based veterinary cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) guidelines. Without effective CPR, cardiopulmonary arrest is universally fatal. Unlike in human medicine, standardized, evidence-based CPR training was not available in veterinary medicine until the creation of the RECOVER Initiative. 

As with similar training in human medicine, one of the initiative’s main goals is improving CPR outcomes by helping veterinary health professionals and pet owners become more competent and confident in these essential life-saving skills. The initial phase of the program consisted of the review and synthesis of existing literature supported by the involvement of over 100 veterinary medical professionals. The resulting guidelines were published in 2012 and are currently in a revision cycle. Subsequently, the online training program, in conjunction with in-person training sessions using the novel high fidelity simulator prototype created by Dan Fletcher, PhD, DVM, DACVECC at Cornell University, was launched. 

Today, over 30,000 veterinary students and professionals have registered for the BLS and ALS RECOVER CPR modules, over 2000 are certified as RECOVER Certified Rescuers, and 160 have gone on to become RECOVER Certified Instructors. More information can be found at recoverinitiative.org

About SRTC  

SRTC offers over 155 degree, diploma, and certificate programs that are designed to get students quickly into a desired career, and 28 general education courses that transfer to the University System of Georgia institutions and 19 private colleges and universities in Georgia. SRTC has instructional sites located in Colquitt, Decatur, Early, Grady, Miller, Mitchell, Seminole, Thomas, Tift, Turner and Worth counties for the convenience of its students. The College is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC). SACSCOC is the regional body for the accreditation of degree-granting higher education institutions in the Southern states. 

For the most up-to-date information on registration, class dates, and program offerings, log on to www.southernregional.edu.