Had three walk-ins at 2 a.m. with respiratory distress; the one owner who called en route let us stage oxygen and a crash cart, and we had the dog on O2 in under 60 seconds. I’m pushing for a standard line: if it’s bleeding, breathing, seizure, bloat, or toxin, call ahead if it’s safe — anyone have a short script you use that speeds triage without delaying transport?
What’s worked for me is a 10‑second script: “Species, approx weight, one-word problem, ETA; if critical say ‘breathing/bleeding/seizing/bloat/toxin’,” and if they’re already driving we switch to “just ETA and car color” so we can stage O2 and spot them in the lot. Would you let reception cut the call at 30 seconds if they’re en route?
the parking lot hunt kills minutes at 2 a.m. — I add one thing to @awillis89’s script: have them give car color/make and which door, and use a code word like “red” for the bleeding/breathing/seizing/toxin group so we page O2 and the crash cart before they hit the curb. If they can’t talk, just drive and lay on the horn; we’ll stage anyway.