A RESPECTED veterinary surgery in Runcorn is teaching pet owners vital and lifesaving pet CPR skills.

Northwest Veterinary Specialists recently held two days of training for nurses and vets to become recover CPR rescuers.

This initiative was led by head of nursing Kathryn Latimer Jones.

She was joined in conducting the sessions by Emily Thomas, a specialist in emergency and critical care at DWR Veterinary Specialists in Cambridgeshire.

Sessions attracted widespread enthusiasm, with colleagues from Scotland and County Durham, as well as those based at NWVS, attending to learn the latest cardiopulmonary resuscitation techniques.

Kathryn said: “The course teaches a specific set of guidelines to aim for successful CPR across the veterinary world.

“Feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, and we are creating a team of proactive and confident individuals, so when patients suffer an arrest, we can ensure the best possible outcomes.”

Kathryn became a CPR instructor after two days of training in Sweden, and she has subsequently carried out emergency CPR on dogs and cats.

She praised clinical director at Paragon Veterinary Referrals, Sophie Adamantos, as the project was initially her idea.

Kathryn added: “Unfortunately, courses are not run frequently and are rarely available in the UK.

“This prompted myself and Emily, with backing from Sophie, to see if we could upskill the teams in the north who were responsible for training in their hospitals.

“We also wanted to create a network of like-minded people who can work together to create training resources and talk about their experiences of training in practice.”