Emergency & Critical Care Service

Our Services

The Equine Emergency and Critical Care Service at the Veterinary Teaching Hospital at Ohio State offers 24-hour emergency and state-of-the-art intensive care for all equine medical and surgical emergencies, including neonatal emergencies.

Service Highlights

• Board certified surgeons
• Board certified internists
• Emergency abdominal (colic), respiratory, orthopedic, and urogenital surgery available
• Neonatal intensive care
• Facilities for recumbent horses
• Intensive care unit (ICU) staffed 24 hours/day by certified animal health technicians. ICU staffed 24 hours/day by veterinarians in the spring and summer
• Isolation and quarantine facilities
• Consultation with boarded specialists in anesthesia, cardiology, ophthalmology, neurology, and radiology

Appointments & Office Hours

24-hour emergency service provided. Owner or referring veterinarian should call ahead to arrange for emergency care. A call to the hospital when leaving the farm, and a call 30 minutes out from the hospital will ensure that the emergency team is prepared to receive the patient.

For daytime and after-hour emergencies: (614) 292-6661

What to Expect

Our emergency team is made up of the primary resident on-call, an emergency clinician, two 4th-year veterinary students and several experienced certified veterinary technicians. If the patient is received after hours the initial care will be provided by the emergency team. The patient will be transferred the following morning (or on Monday morning in the case of a weekend emergency) to the appropriate service (internal medicine, soft tissue surgery, or orthopedic surgery).

If your horse requires emergency surgery, an anesthesiologist and equine surgeon are available 24 hours/day. We work closely with the anesthesia service to achieve the best possible anesthetic recovery and pain management. Post-operative patients and those requiring intensive medical treatment are placed in an ICU stall where 24-hour intensive monitoring is performed and advanced critical care diagnostics (such as blood pressure measurements, blood gas analysis, continuous EKG) are available.

Special Equipment & Technology

• Stall-side oxygen
• 24-hour laboratory services (hematology, serum chemistry, blood gas)
• Sling and hoist for recumbent horses
• Electrocardiography (EKG)
• Radiography
• Ultrasonography

Common Conditions & Procedures

• Colic
• Colitis/Diarrhea
• Septic joint, laceration, fracture
• Respiratory emergencies
• Neonatal conditions

Clinicians

• Britta Leise, DVM, MS, Clinical Instructor
• Margaret Mudge, VMD, DACVS, ACVECC, Assistant Professor- Clinical
• Samuel Hurcombe, BVMS, MS, ACVIM, Fellow in Equine Emergency and Critical Care

Payment

A $600 deposit is generally required for all emergencies. Read more about our payment policies.