The Veterinary Committee on Trauma (VetCOT)



The VetCOT Pulse--September 2026

Upcoming Events

Visit VetCOT & VetATLS at IVECCS 2026!

Heading to IVECCS this September? Stop by booth NP #120 — shared with ACVECC — to connect with the VetCOT and VetATLS teams! Learn about the Veterinary Advanced Trauma Life Support (VetATLS) course, a comprehensive CE program designed to help veterinarians and veterinary teams build confidence and competence in assessing and stabilizing trauma patients. 

Catch Claire and Kelly at the booth during Tuesday and Wednesday lunch — come say hello, ask questions, and find out how to get involved with VetCOT's mission to advance trauma care for our patients.

We will have VetCOT/VetATLS swag and will be holding a raffle for a free VetATLS course! 

See you at booth NP #120!

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Freeze-Dried Plasma - Therapeutic Utility, Safety & Efficacy

Dr. Kelly Mann is scheduled for Wednesday, September 16, from 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM ET.

Dr. Kelly Mann (DVM, MS, MSS, DACVR, and VP of Veterinary Solutions at Mantel Technologies) will be speaking extensively on the topic at the International Veterinary Emergency & Critical Care Symposium (IVECCS). Dr. Mann will focus on the in vivo safety and efficacy of cFDP, as well as the unique therapeutic advantages of hyperosmotic cFDP, which include allowing for faster infusion times at lower volumes for rapid resuscitation in emergent scenarios.

Canine Freeze-Dried Plasma (cFDP) is a FDA risk reviewed, prescription-only, veterinary product developed by Mantel Technologies for treating hypovolemia and controlling hemorrhage in dogs. One of the most significant benefits of cFDP is its logistical convenience; it is shelf-stable for at least one year without needing refrigeration or freezing, and it reconstitutes in just 3 minutes. Each single-use kit is fully equipped with 20 grams of cFDP, 250 mL of sterile water for injection, and an intravenous administration set, making it highly practical for acute medical emergencies and trauma cases where fresh blood products are unavailable.

Please reach out and contact Stephanie Barton, Mantel's Canine Product Manager, at stephanie@manteltechnologies.com for any questions or to request additional information. 

International Working Dog Association

Recent Advances in Canine Emergency Medicine (Zoom Webinar)

Drs. Kelly Hall, Claire Tucker and Kelly Mann will discuss the Veterinary Advanced Trauma Life Support Program (VetATLS; https://vetcot.org/vetatls/), the Veterinary Abbreviated Injury Scale (V-AIS; https://www.dvm360.com/view/mitigating-injuries-and-improving-trauma-care-in-animals), and Canine Freeze-Dried Plasma Kits (cFDP; https://manteltechnologies.com/cfdp-product-information).

Date and Time: Oct 28th 6:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Register here:

Non-IWDA members can register via Eventbrite: click here

IWDA members can register for free from their member page: sign in and click here.

Save the Date -- VetCOT 2027 Conference

The Spring VetCOT Conference will be held March 12-14, 2027, in Las Vegas. Watch for more information and registration details on the website in October.

Subcommittee Highlights

July Trauma Talk July 22, 2026

Guest Speaker: Dennis Timothy Crowe, Jr., DVM, PhD

“From the trenches - Lessons learned in the care of the bite trauma patient.”



Journal Club Reviews

This Quarter's Topic is "Transfusion in Blunt Trauma"

Transfusion ratios and survival in severe blunt trauma patients receiving massive transfusion.



Review by Jon Esmond

Platelet transfusion increases risk for acute respiratory distress syndrome in non-massively transfused blunt trauma patients: 83 cases (2008–2013)

Review by Dean Thompson

High Fresh Frozen Plasma to Red Blood Cell Ratio and Survival Outcomes in Blunt Trauma

Review by Mari Schlosser

Factors affecting physicians' decision to start prehospital blood product transfusion in blunt trauma patients: A cohort study of Helsinki Trauma Registry – JAMA 2024

Review by Lee Palmer

Blunt Trauma Massive Transfusion (B-MaT) Score: A Novel Scoring Tool 

Review by Greg Lisciandro

The team is working on updating the "Resources for the optimal care of the injured veterinary patient" document. The current version is below.

The team just launched its first CPG (Clinical Practice Guideline) for analgesia/sedation, with a target of four more this year: imaging, transfusion, surgical timing, and traumatic brain injury.

Registry Data Subcommittee

We have 37 published articles using VetCOT Registry Data and 13 more in process.

Thanks to your continued efforts, we also have over 83,000 registry case entries.

Please remember, Registry case entry is one of the requirements to maintain Verified Trauma Center Status.

Trauma Support Subcommittee

Trauma Case Stories: Against All Odds & Celebrations of Life

The Trauma Support Team Committee wants to celebrate the incredible trauma cases and the teams behind them!

We are looking for stories that showcase “Against All Odds” recoveries, as well as “Celebrations of Life”—cases that may not have had the outcome we hoped for, but that taught us something meaningful about trauma care, teamwork, resilience, or the human-animal bond.

While our ultimate goal is for every trauma patient to walk out of the hospital, we know that not every story ends that way. Every trauma patient has the potential to teach us something, and every case represents the dedication, collaboration, and compassion of the team caring for them. The committee would love to feature these stories in future VetCOT newsletters to share experiences, highlight lessons learned, and showcase the exceptional teamwork and dedication of veterinary trauma teams across our community.

If your team has a case they want to share, please send it to: info@vetcot.org     Attn: Christy Tomcik Walker

VetATLS: Not Just for Veterinarians.

Technicians and Support Staff Have the Power!

Is the VetATLS course just for veterinarians? Absolutely not. VetATLS is built for a whole‑team approach to trauma, and technicians are central to that mission.

Trauma patients live or die based on the quality of nursing care they receive. Veterinarians diagnose, prescribe, and perform procedures, but everything in between is nursing. Trauma cases often involve long, complex hospital stays with multiple surgeries, bandage changes, IVCs, nutrition challenges, recumbency care, and constant reassessment. Technicians are the ones who carry these patients through the hardest parts of their recovery. A technician’s role is to advocate for patients. We are the ones who notice subtle changes, preempt what the patient needs, and communicate those changes to the veterinarian. Our clinical intuition trusting our gut, recognizing patterns, and acting early is one of the most powerful tools in trauma care. But intuition grows stronger with knowledge, and sometimes we don’t know what to do or how best to support the patient and the veterinary team.

That’s where VetATLS becomes transformative.

VetATLS empowers the entire team with a shared language, a structured approach, and confidence in managing trauma. Trauma presents in countless ways, and sometimes we face injuries no one on the team has seen before. VetATLS breaks trauma down into a simple, repeatable framework: primary survey, secondary survey, and clear priorities, so every team member knows how to act, what to look for, and how to advocate effectively. Technicians and support staff can transform their current role into something more, do more, see more, teach more, and be involved.

Technicians and support staff: trust your gut, build your knowledge, and step confidently into trauma care. You might be the reason a patient stabilizes. You might be the reason they get to go home.

-Melissa Shoard, RVN, AVN, VTS (ECC), Dip VN (ECC, GP), Cert IV TAE 

VetATLS information

The VetATLS course is available for everyone through AVECC Learning. Starting in the Fall of 2026, there will be an in-person skills lab where you can practice the skills that are learned through the online course.

Additionally, if you love teaching and instructing others, you can now take the “Instructor Training for the Veterinary Advanced Trauma Life Support (VetATLS) Course”, which is debuting at IVECCS 2026. While this particular lab is now filled, there will be other opportunities to take this course in the future, and the Trauma Support Team Committee highly encourages technicians and assistants to join the fun and become a certified instructor. If you are interested in more information, follow the links below.

https://vetcot.org/vetatls/

https://vetcot.org/vetatls/interest-form/

https://learning.acvecc.org/

Click the button to access moreTrauma Support resources:

Identification & Verification Subcommittee

If your hospital is interested in joining the network click the link to our website below to find out more. Reverifications/Verifications notices will be sent out late summer/fall. The next call to apply to be identified will be in early 2027.

The sundowning of the VECCS facility certification has impacted the VetCOT application process. At this time, we are not requiring VECCS certification. The team is investigating where there are overlaps and gaps between the two agencies in the certification requirements. Stay tuned for more information.

Veterinary Advanced Trauma Life Support (VetATLS)

The VetATLS Program has officially launched!

The online course is organized into 11 modules. Each module is based on a body system or element of triage. The modules are as follows:

The Primary Survey (FREE)

1.   Initial Assessment and Management

2.   Airway and Ventilatory Management

3.   Shock

4.   Thoracic Trauma

5.   Abdominal and Pelvic Trauma

6.   Head Trauma

7.   Spine and Spinal Cord Trauma

8.   Musculoskeletal Trauma

9.   Bite Wounds

10. Environmental Trauma

11. Transport to Definitive Care

See you at IVECCS at booth NP #120!

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September 13th is the official "Hug Your Hound Day"

Go Celebrate!