Vet Techs Thinking on the Fly
Sometimes the fanciest, most expensive medical machinery in the world isn’t quite enough when it comes to taking a radiograph of a chameleon or a Madagascar hissing cockroach. What’s also required are the creative minds of veterinary technicians who can think outside the box.

“Part of the challenge and the fun of this job is coming up with adaptations, coming up with something new,” says Joel Pond, C.V.T., a veterinary technician who has been thinking on the fly for more than 30 years, most of those at Lincoln Park Zoo.

Just how does one position a chameleon or a cockroach for a series of radiographs at the zoo’s hospital? Neither one is likely to sit still on a radiograph plate long enough for Pond or fellow veterninary technician, John Pauley, to snap its picture.

For the chameleon, they took a plastic bar about the circumference and length of a ballpoint pen and taped empty pill bottles to either end. This bridge was then placed on a film plate below the radiograph beam. When the chameleon crawled aboard, the slight motion of a hand startled it into stillness long enough for the techs to get their image.

To prevent the hissing cockroach from scurrying off, the technicians placed it in a paper envelope, which is invisible to the radiograph beam. A different strategy was required to take a series of gastrointestinal X-rays of a king penguin. A penguin can be safely removed from its cold environment at the Kovler Penguin/Seabird House for a short period of time.

But to maximize its comfort during this procedure, the technicians placed the bird in a 30-gallon plastic container with ice packs covering the bottom half. With the penguin standing patiently, a film plate was placed between the animal and container to capture the image.

This kind of ingenuity clears a path for the zoo’s veterinarians, Dr. Kathryn Gamble and Dr. Claude Lacasse, to provide the best care for animals under all conditions. Of course, a vet tech’s responsibilities extend far beyond getting little critters to pose.

“We’re everything but the cutting surgeon,” Pond says. “Scrub nurse, anesthesiologist, dental technician, pharmacist technician, paramedic and clean-up crew.” Says Gamble, “If you don’t have a veterinary technician there, you become paralyzed very quickly. They’re essentially another tool for the vets.” A tool that thinks outside the box.  

Next: A Trip to the ER

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