Hi Laura,
The way emergency calls work for us is that the foster must first call or communicate with our foster team (the foster team is required to respond to emergency situations within 30 mins or less) prior to going to the vet (this actually goes for any type of procedure or vet need regardless if it's an emergency or not). If for some reason our foster team cannot be reached, fosters have cell phone numbers for myself and CEO and will be able to reach one of us. Our foster team has a set of guidelines that they follow when emergencies pop up. We first evaluate if the issue is indeed an emergency. Sometimes this requires a call to our Shelter Manager who is our vet tech and sometimes the issue is very cut and dry and emergency services are needed right away.
Our foster team is to always ask about energy, appetite, and attitude. If the animal needs to seek emergency care, the foster needs to leave right away to the emergency vet office (or a staff member needs to take the pet in if the foster cannot). Our team calls ahead to let the vet office know we have an HSTT foster pet coming in and then we email the vet office the pet's medical records. Once at the vet we are the lead on communication with the vet and vet tech at the emergency office. From there, and because we are a nonprofit animal rescue, we look at the cost and the outcome before moving forward. Almost always we move forward with what is needed unless the vet lets us know that the prognosis and outcome are very poor and it will be extremely costly. Then sometimes we have to make a tough decision. The foster team is in contact with either myself, our Operations Director, or CEO and from there we make those cost/prognosis decisions. We, unfortunately, don't get much of a deal or cost break from the emergency vet (we used to until a corporate vet org took over). We cover all medical bills unless the foster wants to cover them. In certain situations when the cost is really high (usually above $2000) we run marketing campaigns to get the medical costs covered.
In terms of training, fosters go through orientation, foster training, and quiz (this training is pre-recorded with the quiz attached). They fill out both a volunteer app and a more specific foster app so that we are matching fosters and pets appropriately. Then the foster reads through our foster guidelines and agreement and signs that and sends it back to us. After that, the foster is given our foster manual with all of our processes and information listed out and placed on our foster email list. In the training, foster agreement, and guidelines, we list out emergency protocols and make it very clear when they are to call or text after hours. If the call is not an emergency the foster team reminds (kindly) the foster of the emergency protocols. If it is a text or email, we wait until business hours to respond.
Let me know if you have any questions on any of that, I'm happy to provide you with more information. Hopefully, that helped answer your questions.
------------------------------
Erin Ellis
Community Engagement Director
Humane Society of Truckee-Tahoe
---------
Foster Program & Volunteer Management Specialist
------------------------------
Original Message:
Sent: 11-09-2022 09:34 AM
From: Laura Kniffen
Subject: What is the industry standard for veterinary care for foster programs within larger organizations?
Hi Kelly & Erin,
Thank you both for the information and resources!
Erin - Could you explain the relationship with the offsite emergency vet care clinic a little more? Do they need to call the on-call folks to approve any procedures/care first? Do they have a cost "cap"? Does your organization handle all of the medical bills?
Also, what does the training look like for your foster homes for ensuring they follow protocols for the program? For helping folks determine if it is a true after hours emergency we have a short 1 page reference guide with examples.
Thanks again, appreciate your time!
-Laura
------------------------------
Laura Kniffen
Original Message:
Sent: 11-09-2022 09:09 AM
From: ERIN ELLIS
Subject: What is the industry standard for veterinary care for foster programs within larger organizations?
Hi Laura,
We have a decent-size foster program for the size of our shelter. We do have a medical team that helps support our foster program/staff (this is made up of our shelter vet tech and our vet staff) and we also have partnerships with vet offices. All of our foster pets go through the same process as yours when they arrive at the shelter for intake. Once they are placed in foster our foster manager and coordinator are connected to an emergency cell phone for any emergencies that happen after hours, holidays, weekends, etc. (they trade off having the phone so that they get true days off). The way our shelter works is that we share our building and work in partnership with our town's Animals Services dept. AS has a registered vet tech as their shelter manager. She is available to us (unless she is on vacation, then we have a different protocol), 7 days a week for emergency calls or situations.
During the week if a foster needs something and it can be handled in our shelter clinic, we do that in-house (Sun-Thurs). If it is after hours, Fri-Sat and emergency care is required, or if it's above what can be handled in our shelter clinic with either our vet or shelter manager vet tech, we have our pets taken to an emergency vet in a neighboring town. The really tricky thing for us is that we are located in the Lake Tahoe area in the Sierra Nevada, so emergency vet care in the town where our shelter or second office space is located does not exist, we have to take all emergency situations to Reno or Carson City. Snowstorms can make that even trickier, but luckily when emergency care is needed it works out.
Depending on where the animal is located in foster (we have a service area of just under 2000 square miles) vet assistance (non-emergency) is usually taken care of at the shelter clinic, same with routine vaccines. If a foster is located further away from our shelter, we make arrangements with vet clinics that we often have relationships with in that area.
All of our fosters go through extensive training to ensure that they are following protocols and know what constitutes an emergency situation (we are careful about that with our foster team that is connected to a foster emergency cell phone...they need a good work-life balance as well). Our shelter vet tech is great about training and keeping our foster team up to speed on best practices for our foster program. We have our foster staff utilize webinars and different trainings to stay up to date as well.
Hopefully, this is helpful information for you. Please let me know if you have any questions.
------------------------------
Erin Ellis
Community Engagement Director
Humane Society of Truckee-Tahoe
---------
Foster Program & Volunteer Management Specialist
Original Message:
Sent: 11-09-2022 06:32 AM
From: Laura Kniffen
Subject: What is the industry standard for veterinary care for foster programs within larger organizations?
Hello fellow animal welfare professionals!
I am hoping to hear from larger organizations with foster programs on how they handle the medical side of things within their program. Do they have dedicated medical teams specifically for foster animals? Do they have partnerships with outside vet clinics? What is the current industry standard for this with larger foster programs? My question is pertaining to animals that are already in foster homes. At my organization, all animals are assessed medically, treated onsite, and given up to date vaccinations and preventatives before going to foster. We are looking into the different ways we can best support foster families and animals once in foster care and needing veterinary assistance, routine vaccinations, after hours emergencies, etc.
Thank you for your time!
#FosterPrograms
------------------------------
Laura Kniffen
------------------------------