Thermoregulation in the critical patient: When to share that hot air and when to cool it
Tracks
Stream Two - Eureka 2
| Wednesday, March 19, 2025 |
| 1:30 PM - 2:30 PM |
| Eureka 2 |
Overview
Laura Bennington
Speaker
Miss Laura Bennington
Veterinary Emergency Specialty Training
Thermoregulation in the critical patient: When to share that hot air and when to cool it
Abstract
Active cooling and warming techniques are regularly utilised to care for veterinary patients. Commonly this is provided for patients undergoing anaesthesia for procedures. However, the warming and cooling of our patients should also be considered in other areas of the hospital including critical patients in the intensive care unit and those coming through the emergency department. These patients need specific warming and cooling techniques to safely correct their body temperature variances without causing further harm or disrupting compensatory mechanisms.
The presentation will cover the pathophysiology of normal thermoregulation as well as compensatory mechanisms that occur in critical patients that may cause variances in temperature or that are in response to changes in temperature. It will discuss common emergency presentations where temperature variances may be extreme and require correction but with an emphasis on doing so in a safe way that does not interfere with lifesaving compensation. The presentation will include evidence-based warming and cooling techniques as well as common mistakes made with these techniques and how to avoid them.
By the end of this lecture the attendee should be able to understand normal thermoregulation in veterinary patients and be confident about when they need to intervene as well as the safest and most evidence-based ways to do so. This will therefore hopefully mean better outcomes for future patients as well as staff and owners.
The presentation will cover the pathophysiology of normal thermoregulation as well as compensatory mechanisms that occur in critical patients that may cause variances in temperature or that are in response to changes in temperature. It will discuss common emergency presentations where temperature variances may be extreme and require correction but with an emphasis on doing so in a safe way that does not interfere with lifesaving compensation. The presentation will include evidence-based warming and cooling techniques as well as common mistakes made with these techniques and how to avoid them.
By the end of this lecture the attendee should be able to understand normal thermoregulation in veterinary patients and be confident about when they need to intervene as well as the safest and most evidence-based ways to do so. This will therefore hopefully mean better outcomes for future patients as well as staff and owners.
Biography
Laura qualified with a BSc (Honors) degree in Veterinary Nursing from Napier University in Edinburgh in 2010 and subsequently became a registered vet nurse with the RCVS working in the UK. In 2015 she moved to Australia and began her journey into emergency and critical care and has since worked in a range of nursing and leadership positions in multiple specialty clinics, mainly based in intensive care units and emergency rooms but also dabbling in internal medicine and surgical specialties. In 2022 she headed her own ECC department at Melbourne’s largest not for profit veterinary hospital. During all this, Laura has gained extra qualifications since leaving university, including completing her certificate in ECC nursing in 2019 and passing the vigorous application process and examination to gain her VTS (ECC) in 2022, making her an internationally recognised ECC specialist nurse! Laura is a self-confessed nerd that not only loves learning but also teaching and empowering others to learn more! This is why she started her side business 'Veterinary Emergency Specialty Training' aka VEST (@Laurarvn.vest on Instagram) so that she could share her experience and knowledge to help others learn and develop in ECC. Laura hopes that by sharing her knowledge and skills she can help people to feel comfortable dealing with emergencies and critical patients and achieve better outcomes for future patients and staff. Laura’s other passion is the progression of the vet nursing profession. She is a lecturer at Melbourne Polytechnic/La Trobe University’s bachelor’s degree of Veterinary nursing where she loves teaching future nurses! Laura is also constantly working with different organisations to try and improve the standardisation, recognition and regulation surrounding the veterinary nurse profession.
