Hazards of Veterinarians
Providing routine checkups, preventative care and at times life saving intervention, veterinarians are doctors who specialize in working with animals. While many veterinarians love that their job allows them to work directly with animals on a daily basis, a variety of hazards are associated with the profession. If you're interested in becoming a veterinarian, it's essential that you familiarize yourself with the potential dangers you'll face while you're on the job.
Animal behavior is often hard to predict, and when animals are frightened or otherwise under stress, they can lash out in a variety of ways. Veterinarians risk getting bitten, kicked, scratched, or trampled during even routine examinations. According to DVM 360, 50-67% of veterinarians reported an animal-related injury during their career.
Depending on the type of animals a veterinarian works with, the risk associated with animal attacks varies considerably. For example, a bite or scratch from a small dog probably won't cause as much damage as getting kicked or trampled by a horse. However, bites and scratches of any size can lead to infection, which can cause further health complications.
Risk of Disease
Veterinarians risk exposure to a number of disease-causing pathogens in their everyday work. For example, a veterinarian could contract cat scratch fever after being scratched by a cat, rabies from a bite or a number of other ailments from accidentally sticking himself with a needle that's been contaminated with animal blood. In addition to diseases contracted from animals, veterinarians risk coming into contact with human bloodborne pathogens when administering first aid to injured colleagues.
According to the International Atomic Energy Agency, 39% of veterinarians who have manually restrained animals for an X-ray have had accidental exposure to the X-ray. Hazards in a vet clinic include accidental exposure to X-rays can causing a number of different injuries, including burns to the eyes and skin, increased risk of cancer and increased risk of genetic defects.
In addition to accidental X-ray exposure, hazards in veterinary practice include veterinarians risking exposure to a number of chemicals, including anesthetic gases, hazardous drugs, disinfectants, insecticides, surgical smoke and agricultural dust. The complications that can result vary in severity depending on what chemical a veterinarian has been exposed to, as well as how long she was exposed to it.
According to the American Veterinary Medical Association, there are a lot of reasons why improper posture develops because of veterinary duties. Major types of hazards in a veterinary clinic include improper lifting, excessive slouching and standing for extended periods of time can cause a number of musculoskeletal problems, including ruptured discs, muscle spasms and improper spinal alignment.