35 min
Episode 11 - The Queen of Wounds The Skin Flint Podcast
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- Science
This week Sue, John and Paul welcome a very friendly face (voice?!) to the podcast - one Georgie Hollis. Georgie is a wound specialist who built her career in the human healthcare industry but moved over to veterinary and created The Vet Wound Library as an incredibly useful resource for vets and nurses.
Log this CPD with 1CPD here
SHOW NOTES
Intro
(00:00) John introduces the podcast team and Georgie Hollis
Chapter 1 – The queen of wound management and her wound angels
(02:16) Sue asks Georgie to introduce herself and Georgie explains her origins were in podiatry and human patients with wounds and dressings; now she has taken that understanding to the veterinary world, as there has been a lack of understanding in this area of the veterinary profession.
(04:00) Sue introduces the Veterinary Wound Library and Georgie explains how she identified that she could either become a distributor for product or independently set up a platform for vets and nurses to come and get help on choosing dressings and with cases; she then set up the library for this, with a team of specialists to help answer questions on wound surgery and dressings. Georgie talks about the ‘bandaging angels’ who go in and help practices in dealing with bandaging issues and improve their wound management.
(06:48) John asks what a wound is, and Georgie describes this as any break in the skin, caused by a surgical instrument or by accident – she goes on to say that surgical wounds are kept as clean as possible and accidental wounds are from injury and involve more damage and contamination, as well as potentially including bruises and contusions where you may have an impact.
Chapter 2 – Wounds At Home
(08:27) John then asks about whether healing is different between the two types of wound – Georgie uses an example of a cut from glass being a laceration vs a scrape along the ground which would be an abrasion, stressing all of these all need cleansing and preparing in order to allow them to heal – and this healing may not be necessarily in the way the owner would expect.
(09:30) John asks what would lead you to decide whether a wound would need stitching / leaving open / or more drastic action such as a skin graft. Georgie says one of the biggest considerations is how old the wound is, the time between when the wound happens and when it is cleaned is critical. She mentions a study where they looked at wounds in goats and saw a marked reduction in bacterial growth when the wound was new, and the research shows that for every hour earlier a wound is washed, the bacteria present was reduced by half. The multiplication of bacteria in a wound reaches a point where it overcomes the hosts response – so the earlier the wound is washed the greater chance to prevent this from happening – therefore the wounds cleaned the earliest are the most likely to heal successfully.
(11:26) Sue asks how an owner would clean a wound. And Georgie advocates the use of saline – saying this balances with the body’s own cells and citing the example of the skin becoming wrinkly in the bath. This happens because the bath water is less salty than the skin and the skin cells swell – which causes some damage. So, this is preferable to normal water and can be made with a teaspoon a salt in a pint of previously boiled water.
(13:25) Sue clarifies what is meant by an isotonic solution. Georgie does say a bottle of water to flush the wound is preferable to not flushing the wound however.
(14:08) Sue asks how the owner would then use this saline solution on a wound and Georgie speaks of the water bottles with the type of end to suck or squirt the water from, as ideal as this creates a bit more of a flush – even a clean garden sprayer. The ideal pressure is 8-15 pounds per square inch - this is a like a high pressure jet of water.
(16:20) John asks whether a pet should be allowed to lick a wound and Georgie says alpha amylase in saliva is a
This week Sue, John and Paul welcome a very friendly face (voice?!) to the podcast - one Georgie Hollis. Georgie is a wound specialist who built her career in the human healthcare industry but moved over to veterinary and created The Vet Wound Library as an incredibly useful resource for vets and nurses.
Log this CPD with 1CPD here
SHOW NOTES
Intro
(00:00) John introduces the podcast team and Georgie Hollis
Chapter 1 – The queen of wound management and her wound angels
(02:16) Sue asks Georgie to introduce herself and Georgie explains her origins were in podiatry and human patients with wounds and dressings; now she has taken that understanding to the veterinary world, as there has been a lack of understanding in this area of the veterinary profession.
(04:00) Sue introduces the Veterinary Wound Library and Georgie explains how she identified that she could either become a distributor for product or independently set up a platform for vets and nurses to come and get help on choosing dressings and with cases; she then set up the library for this, with a team of specialists to help answer questions on wound surgery and dressings. Georgie talks about the ‘bandaging angels’ who go in and help practices in dealing with bandaging issues and improve their wound management.
(06:48) John asks what a wound is, and Georgie describes this as any break in the skin, caused by a surgical instrument or by accident – she goes on to say that surgical wounds are kept as clean as possible and accidental wounds are from injury and involve more damage and contamination, as well as potentially including bruises and contusions where you may have an impact.
Chapter 2 – Wounds At Home
(08:27) John then asks about whether healing is different between the two types of wound – Georgie uses an example of a cut from glass being a laceration vs a scrape along the ground which would be an abrasion, stressing all of these all need cleansing and preparing in order to allow them to heal – and this healing may not be necessarily in the way the owner would expect.
(09:30) John asks what would lead you to decide whether a wound would need stitching / leaving open / or more drastic action such as a skin graft. Georgie says one of the biggest considerations is how old the wound is, the time between when the wound happens and when it is cleaned is critical. She mentions a study where they looked at wounds in goats and saw a marked reduction in bacterial growth when the wound was new, and the research shows that for every hour earlier a wound is washed, the bacteria present was reduced by half. The multiplication of bacteria in a wound reaches a point where it overcomes the hosts response – so the earlier the wound is washed the greater chance to prevent this from happening – therefore the wounds cleaned the earliest are the most likely to heal successfully.
(11:26) Sue asks how an owner would clean a wound. And Georgie advocates the use of saline – saying this balances with the body’s own cells and citing the example of the skin becoming wrinkly in the bath. This happens because the bath water is less salty than the skin and the skin cells swell – which causes some damage. So, this is preferable to normal water and can be made with a teaspoon a salt in a pint of previously boiled water.
(13:25) Sue clarifies what is meant by an isotonic solution. Georgie does say a bottle of water to flush the wound is preferable to not flushing the wound however.
(14:08) Sue asks how the owner would then use this saline solution on a wound and Georgie speaks of the water bottles with the type of end to suck or squirt the water from, as ideal as this creates a bit more of a flush – even a clean garden sprayer. The ideal pressure is 8-15 pounds per square inch - this is a like a high pressure jet of water.
(16:20) John asks whether a pet should be allowed to lick a wound and Georgie says alpha amylase in saliva is a
35 min