Spencer-Hill Equipment grants awarded

Four Veterinary Nurse Training Centres have been awarded Spencer-Hill Equipment (SHE) grants this year from the RCVS Charitable Trust.

Dawn Platten RVN (pictured left), Course Manager for Veterinary Nursing at City and Islington College, is one of the successful applicants for a SHE grant.

Thanks to the application submitted by Dawn, City and Islington College will receive £1,440 for a K9 CPR ‘Jerry’ Manikin.

The College was provisionally approved by the RCVS in January of this year, and the grant has been a welcome boost, as Dawn explains:

“We purchased state-of-the-art equipment when we set up our new practical facility, and it is great that we can now complement this with the new K9 CPR ‘Jerry’ manikin, through the generous support of the Trust.

“This dog model has working lungs and an artificial pulse, to teach students mouth-to-snout resuscitation. It allows students to learn how to deal with a patient who has stopped breathing and whose heart has stopped.”

Dawn knows from personal experience how important the chance to learn practical skills in a safe environment can be: “I remember dealing with a crash patient when I was a student nurse.

"I had never had any training on dealing with the situation apart from a lecture, and found it very frightening to think that this animal was in my care, and I was responsible for whether it lived or not.

"This is why it’s really important that the students are able to practise and hone their skills before they are put in a similar situation.”

You can read more about City and Islington College and its SHE grant by visiting our Awards made.

These awards will be made as follows:

• City and Islington College a maximum of £1,440 for a K9 CPR ‘Jerry’ Manikin

• Myerscough College a maximum of £1,066 for a Diagnostic Imaging Atlas (DIA 4.1 Software Package)

• Edinburgh's Telford College a maximum of £917 for an ECG and Pulse Oximeter

• Hartpury College a maximum of £1,500 towardsa Positioning ‘Emily’ Manikin