by Leaddog » Sun Jan 23, 2011 5:24 pm
Hi Cindy. I'll take your word for the distances on Extreme Vertical - we're still looking for our first successful height.
I am rarely an "official" race vet since I am usually doing research. However, since the research is always coordinated with race staff, including the head vet, they know I'm around and available to help out. In that capacity, I've worked on the Copper Basin, the Sheep Mountain, the Yukon Quest, and Iditarod. I'm sort of the veterinarian behind the glass panel that says "in case of emergency, break glass".
Honestly, I'm not terribly comfortable with all aspects of being a race vet. I've spent very little time in general practice, and therefore I'm more used to dealing with a few clients and animals (dog or horse) that I know very well, as opposed to the typical race-vet situation in which you may have never met the musher or dogs before.
Easily the most memorable moment was at the finish line of Iditarod in 2004. We went out to the finish chute to welcome a musher, and one of their dogs collapsed as they were crossing the finish line. We scooped the dog up and ran him down the hill into the mini-convention center that serves as HQ in Nome for the finish, and went to work. The dog had vomited and aspirated, probably within 5 miles of Nome, and was in bad shape. We stuck an IV in him, got him on antibiotics, and raided the Nome ambulance for an oxygen tank that we connected to a styrofoam cup that we used as a mask to deliver the oxygen. Someone had to stay with him to keep the mask on, keep the IV running, and basically monitor him, so I laid down next to him and we both sort of napped for about a day. We got him stablilized well enough to ship to Anchorage, and when we took him to the airport, we described the situation to the Alaska Airlines pilot, who allowed him to not only ride in the cabin but also pressured the plane to full sea-level pressure so that the dog would have as much oxygen as he could get. He was transferred to a veterinary hospital ICU in Anchorage, where he promptly ruptured a lung and had to have a chest tube inserted and go on a mechanical ventlator for about a week. The whole thing was touch-and-go, and I would prefer not to do it again, but it was rewarding to see EVERYONE doing what they could to help out - from the musher to the Iditarod staff and vets to the folks in Nome to the Alaska Airlines staff, all the way to the vets and techs at the hospital in Anchorage who ultimately pulled him out of the fire against all odds. Not only did he live, but I got to see him two more times. The first was 6 months later in September of the same year, and since he appeared to have fully recovered, the musher wanted me to check him over to see if I would make a recommendation for returning to training. During the exam, the dog became the first (and thus far only) sled dog to ever try to bite me - after the weeks in intensive care and all the follow-up, he had tolerated about all the veterinary attention he wanted for awhile. Can't say I blame him. I saw him again about a year ago - LOTS older, and getting ready to completely retire from joining his kennel mates on recreational runs. He didn't try to bite me that time.