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Eggleston Equine Emergency Service, What you Need to Know
Eggleston Equine provides 24-hour-a-day emergency service to our clients, every day of the year. To be eligible for our emergency service, you must be a client, in good standing, meaning your account is in accordance with our financial policy. Additionally, your horse must have been seen by Eggleston Equine for routine preventative medicine and/or annual physical examination, within the last year.
To reach the Eggleston Equine emergency service, at any time, simply dial our main number (860-942-3365) and follow the instructions on the voicemail greeting message.
Occasionally we have clients voice some reservations about the emergency service a one doctor veterinary practice can provide. They voice to us, that they may feel more comfortable with a larger practice for emergency service. A few things to note:
With the exception of equine hospitals, for example Tufts Hospital, the emergency service provided by ambulatory equine veterinary practices is very similar, regardless of the size of the practice.
A larger veterinary practice has 1 doctor on call, just like Eggleston Equine.
Our practice is scaled to service our clients. In other words, we see an appropriate number of clients that Dr. Eggleston can reasonably service, and to which she can provide a high level of veterinary care. The same is not typically true of larger practices in the case of emergency service. Larger practices typically have one doctor on emergency call, meaning the client to doctor ratio is increased significantly. One doctor is servicing an increased of horse owners. This is not the case with Eggleston Equine.
Eggleston Equine sees a relatively small number of emergencies, because of our utilization of telemedicine – on the phone, via text message and email. Most of the time for a given emergency page, Dr. Eggleston does not have to “go out” on an emergency call, as the client's and horse's needs can be met via telemedicine. This makes Dr. Eggleston more available for acute emergencies that need immediate attention.
Such telemedicine consultation, over the phone, via text message and email, cannot always happen in a larger practice. Dr. Eggleston has a relationship with every horse and owner in the practice and can make recommendations via telemedicine based on her knowledge of your horse. In larger practices, the doctor on emergency call, may have never seen your horse or met you, and therefore cannot have the knowledge to offer telemedicine consultation.
When Dr. Eggleston leaves the practice area, emergency coverage is always in place prior to her ever “leaving town.” Dr. Michelle Johnson covers Eggleston Equine's emergency service in cases where Dr. Eggleston leaves the practice area. The procedure for reaching Dr. Johnson is exactly the same as for reaching our regular emergency service: you call our number to reach her. However, in most instances, Dr. Eggleston remains available to triage emergency calls received, and/or to provide telemedicine consultation prior to involving Dr. Johnson. This is possible because of the relationship Dr. Eggleston has with all our patients and their owners.
