Pfizer announces sedation, pain management team

Las Vegas-Pfizer wants to make pain assessment the next vitalsign, and they just launched a team to directly help veterinarians and staffimprove how they manage patient pain.

In fact, the newly formed Pfizer Animal Health Sedation and Pain ManagementTeam will actually consult with individual practitioners to assess painprotocols and offer guidance on incorporating new techniques.

The formation of the team was announced at the Western Veterinary Conferencelast month.

According to Pfizer, the Sedation and Pain Management Team will provideinnovative education and specialized consultation at the veterinary practicelevel. The team will help veterinary professionals learn new techniquesto assess and manage patient pain.

The six-person team is comprised of veterinarians from the fields ofanesthesiology, surgery and emergency medicine, as well as a veterinarytechnician with extensive training in anesthetic and pain management techniques.

"Our members have years of experience in both practice and academia,"says J. Michael McFarland, DVM, Dipl. ABVP, who serves as director of theSedation and Pain Management Team. "Our goal is to bring that collectiveexperience to practices, through presentations, on-site visits and demonstrations,seminars and phone consultations."

Training materials

Educational modules offered by the specialized team will target specificaspects of sedation and pain management. Topics include pain physiology,assessment and monitoring, therapeutics, acute and perioperative pain, chronicpain, pain management for senior and critically ill patients and anestheticmonitoring. These modules can be used as continuing education and reviewfor experienced staff members and to train new employees.

In some cases, videos, CD-Roms and other educational materials will beused to demonstrate techniques and procedures.

"The Pfizer Sedation and Pain Management Team is a unique and unprecedentedinitiative in the veterinary industry," says McFarland. "Our memberswill be dedicated full time to hands on practitioner and technician education,bringing a whole hospital approach to answering questions and suggestingnew alternatives in the sedation and pain management programs of veterinarypractices."

The team consists of McFarland, Steven M. Fox, MS, DVM, MBA, Ph.D., DavidD. Martin, DVM, dipl. American College of Veterinary Anesthesiologists,Nancy Shaffran, RVT, VTS, and Charles E. Short, DVM, MS, Ph.D.

For more details contact a Pfizer sales representative.