Spay/Neuter Surgery Assistant

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We are in search of motivated volunteers with a passion for animals that want to learn more about what we do in our high volume surgery suite. On any day our doctors are performing spays, neuters and other special procedures on 60-70 animals. One to two doctors have a support staff of 4-5 veterinary technicians and with that amount of animals any help they can get is appreciated and greatly needed.

PREREQUISITE: VOLUNTEERS MUST COMPLETE ONE SHIFT OF SURGICAL OPERATIVE SUPPORT-PREP BEFORE VOLUNTEERING IN THIS ROLE.

Timing: Surgery gets started anytime between 8:15-8:30 am. Depending on the day, we finish between 2:00 and 3:30pm, although the goal is to always be completed by 2:30 pm.

Duties: Your main job requirement will be to assist doctors with cleaning up surgery packs, opening new, sterile surgery supplies, keeping the surgery area and kennels clean, assisting with anesthesia maintenance, and being an extra person to help carry animals to and from the surgery tables. If the doctors in surgery are not in need of an intra-operative assistant you may be asked to help clean, wrap and sterilize our surgery packs. All of these jobs are tremendously helpful for our technicians, the flow of our day, preparation for the following day, and can potentially save us hours of work.

Expectations: Our clinic is fast-paced, high volume and, at times, overwhelming. We expect any volunteers, especially those in surgery, to be professional, hard-working, and eager to learn. Surgery can literally be life and death situations, and while we take as many precautions as possible, this area of our clinic comes with a great deal of responsibility. You must be attentive, responsible and prepared to assist the doctors and technicians where needed.

IMPORTANT: Please keep in mind that this is a fun but potentially dirty job. Be prepared to come in contact with animal waste and blood on a daily basis. You will be seeing surgery up close and personal and if anything makes you uncomfortable or sick we need to know immediately. When we spay a pregnant dog or cat we terminate the pregnancy by leaving the fetuses in utero. Please be prepared to witness the termination of pregnancies.