We Are Essential

Hayley’s Story

These days, everyone is trying to keep the fabric of society from unraveling, and many of our friends in the Oklahoma City community have agreed to talk about it. Their views expressed here do not reflect the views of their employers, nor the views of my employer. We are just working together to convey their experiences. 

Our feature today is a doctor with nerves of steel and the enviable ability to diagnose patients who can’t speak to her. That’s right, we are featuring this woman:

The badass in the photo who is performing surgery and looking directly at the gross stuff we covered up with cartoon dogs is Dr. Hayley Kemp. She is a true goofball, a Silver Dollar City fangirl, TLC reality show expert, mother to dogs and one human, and veterinarian. 

Dr. Hayley used to drop her child off at daycare on the way in to work, spend a day counseling pet owners in exam rooms, checking animals, and performing surgery.  Now that she is dealing with a global pandemic, she has adapted her life and her practice in response to the virus going around. 

How Dr. Hayley’s Life Has Changed

Like a lot of people, Dr. Hayley is dealing with a daycare closure. Her husband now works from home and watches the baby, so she no longer drops her son off and daycare in the morning or picks him up after work. 

Her appointments and surgeries during a typical day have also decreased. 

“We are conserving our PPE as best we can, which means we have to reschedule non-essential appointments and procedures.” 

May pet owners are wondering what qualifies as essential appointments and procedures. Of course it varies from case to case, but Dr. Hayley has a general rule of thumb for us.

“Sick animals, dental procedures to treat painful dental disease and puppy/kitten exams are deemed essential.” 

Since the COVID-19 outbreak veterinarians are doing what they can to protect pet owners and themselves. 

“Since Covid-19’s arrival to Oklahoma, we have significantly decreased our interaction with pet owners.”

Dr. Hayley says her clinic takes many precautions to do the very best they can to keep human-to-human contact at a minimum. It’s an impressive list of precautions.

“The front door to the clinic is locked at all times. When clients arrive for their appointment, they call the front desk. My nurse checks them in over the phone and addresses any concerns they have for their pet. Dressed in PPE (surgical gown, gloves, mask) my nurse gets the animal from the car maintaining as much social distance as possible. We use our own leashes to transport animals and leave their personal leash with the owner. These are disinfected after each use. Once inside, I perform a physical exam and call the owner with our treatment plan and any concerns I have. After the visit I transfer them to the receptionist who takes payment over the phone. My nurse then takes the receipt, medications and the pet to the car.”

The precautions are necessary, and decrease the risk of Dr. Hayley and her colleagues getting the virus. 

“I feel much more comfortable going to work since we have eliminated contact with clients. The virus could be transferred to the surface of an animal’s fur so we still dress in full PPE. We conserve our PPE as best we can. There is a real possibility that we will run out of gloves before this is over.”  

How We Can Help Hayley

Dr. Hayley is a very important kind of doctor, because she cares for our most adorable coworkers. Without Dr. Hayley and her colleagues, our quarantine buddies who are easiest to love might not get the care they need. We can all agree that it is important to keep Dr. Hayley and her kind as safe as possible. Here is the Number One tip from Dr. Hayley on how to help make life easier for her and her fellow veterinarians and vet techs:

“Stay home and only take your animal to the vet if it is absolutely necessary. If you have any symptoms do not take your animal to the vet. If one of our staff members gets sick we will have to close the clinic.”

What Dr. Hayley Wants You To Know About Vets

Veterinarians are not the kind of doctors who are getting most of the media exposure right now, but they are definitely doctors, are essential businesses, and are still out and about in the world. This entails a lot of potential for exposure to the virus.  Dr. Hayley reminds us that veterinarians like her are aware of the risks and of course it worries them.

“We are concerned for the safety of our clients and exposing our family members.”

What Dr. Hayley Wants You To Know About Caring For Yourself

“Stay home, wash your hands for 20 seconds, do not be around anyone except who you live with. Speak up when someone stands too close to you in public and stand up for people at risk.”

We thank Hayley for being willing to share her experience with us. She’s there for you and your pet if you need her and we are all grateful.