Join the APA! Parvo ICU Team!

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Do you have a passion for saving puppy lives? Do you have a passion for science and the medical field, an intuition for basic math, and a thirst for learning how medications and disease processes work? Then being a Parvo ICU volunteer might be for you!

The Parvo Team is recruiting volunteers for both the Care Team and Medical Team to help our patients in the Parvo ICU. Medical experience (animal or human!) is preferred, but not required. 2-3 weeks of training will be provided for the Medical Team. The minimum requirement is two-shifts per week for 6 months for the Medical Team and one shift per week for 3 months for the Care Team. Shifts available are 8 am and 7 pm 7 days a week.

About: The APA Parvo ICU is where we cure dogs of the Canine Parvovirus. This disease produces an incredibly low survival rate without treatment (almost zero percent) and typically infects dogs under one year old. It's an an absolutely horrible, absolutely curable disease which affords us a unique opportunity to save quite a few dogs! They require treatments twice a day with various medications. We have a survival rate of 80% - 90% (that's many hundreds of dogs a year). I won't sugar coat it, it's a very gross disease. You can't be soft stomach or faint at heart. We will lose dogs and There Will Be Blood, Diarrhea and Vomit (and lots of it). But believe me when I say that treating theses dogs and watching them survive is the most rewarding experience I've ever had.

Medical Team: The medical team will be trained on how to treat symptoms of Parvo.

• Giving medications via Oral, Subcutaneous (yes, you'll poke dogs with needles a LOT), and IV (they have an IV catheter which provides easy access) routes.

• Treatments are done in teams of 2-3 people

• While you're training and for the first 6 months upon becoming a trained volunteer you must com mit 2 shifts per week for 6 months at least. This is due to the time, commitment and effort put forth to train you. Although you’ll be considered fully trained after the initial 3 weeks, you will continue to learn and increase your efficiency in treating for another 2-3 months. We also believe that consistent practice is needed to learn how to treat the puppies properly and effectively.

• Follow a 6-day curriculum during training, and give injections on day 1. Study up on all required information between training sessions.

• Please read all volunteer expectations on our wiki.

Care Team: If the medical team sounds too daunting or you are unable to make the 6 month commitment, you might consider joining the care team. A full description of the role can be found here, but generally the Care Team member is responsible for feeding and cleaning up after the pups, assisting the Medical Team member when necessary and general clean up of the Parvo ward.

If you're interested, please complete the online application and orientation at www.austinpetsalive.org/volunteer.

Thanks, I look forward to hearing from you!