POSITION TITLE:               Veterinary Technician II

LOCATION:                          NIH/NICHD Bldg. 6B

 SUPERVISOR:                    Veterinary Technician III

JOB SUMMARY:

Under the direction of the Veterinary Technician III/Facility Veterinarian, the Veterinary Technician II shall primarily be responsible for daily rounds, preliminary health exams of sick animals prior to reporting to the Facility Veterinarian, examination of all incoming animals for overt signs of illness and rejection of those noted, and assistance with the rodent surveillance program. In addition this person will also be responsible for assisting investigators on their floor with technical procedures including bleeding, identification of animals, breeding of transgenic animals, weaning, sexing, keeping appropriate records (computerized and other) and preliminary necropsies.  The veterinary Technician shall be responsible for coordinating facility research support activities and providing oversight to the Research Assistants. 

BASIC REQUIREMENTS:

1. This person must be knowledgeable of Veterinary Medical terminology, trained in animal treatment; an associate degree in Veterinary Technology, or related disciplines with emphasis on technical procedures in an animal care or research environment is a plus.

• Minimum three (3) years experience in a research laboratory animal facility accredited by the Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care International (AAALAC) – as is experience Occupational Safety and Health and GLP-focused Quality Assurance programs.

3. AALAS certification at the Laboratory Animal Technologist (LATG) level or License Veterinary Technician (LVT) certification (if not certified LATG upon employment, it is mandatory after one year).

4. Candidates must possess an excellent command of the English language both written and verbal in order to effectively communicate with scientific investigators on a daily basis.

RESPONSIBLITIES AND DUTIES:

Essential Duties:

1. Communicate with the Attending Veterinarian and Researchers to better care for animals and provide services to the customers
2. Coordinate work schedules with Researchers and the Veterinary Technical Supervisor
3. Seek specialized training or cross training to maximize delivery of services
4. Assist with the QA/QC program, performing audits, reporting/documenting results maintaining GLP standards.
5. Provide care to research animals, performing health observations, and providing veterinary care as directed, reporting problems/abnormalities to the Attending Veterinarian
6. Performs routine veterinary care, treatments and support as prescribed by a Veterinarian,
7. Assist/perform blood collection or other technical/veterinary procedures
8. Provides surgical support to include instrument preparation and sterilization, animal preparation, sterile and non-sterile scrub assistance for the support of aseptic surgeries,
9. Provides anesthesia support to include induction, maintenance and recovery of animals,
10. Establishes ordering levels, maintains log books and inventory of drugs and surgical supplies,
11. Administer drugs or treatments to animals, as directed, including the calculation of dosage, and recording of drug use in Controlled Drug logs or animal clinical records
12. Transports specimens and animals to diagnostic laboratories ,
13. Maintains animal health records and assures that all animals received adequate provision of feed and water,
14. Provides routine preventive maintenance for all surgical support equipment,
15. Respond to animal and facility emergencies,
16. Assist researchers or their staff by restraining/positioning animal(s) for examination or treatment
17. Assure that procedures and practices involving the program of animal care are appropriate for the continued maintenance of AAALAC accreditation of the facility
18. Assure personal adherence to security procedures and confidentiality requirements
19. Ensure adherence to established SOPs
20. Assist the Project Director in anticipating/planning for changing workloads/schedules
21. Identify and report potential problem areas related to animal use, care, or health, or problems with facilities or equipment which might be hazard to animals or personnel
22. Participate in/oversee the sentinel animal program
23. Submit daily a brief written report of observations and treatment to the Facility Veterinarian

ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS

Animal care and technical duties will be performed mainly indoors in an animal care vivarium, barrier facility, surgical or test procedure laboratory facility, or animal housing/bedding cleaning and processing areas. Work may require use of appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) in these facilities.  Laboratory environment and/or animal care work areas may be prone to hot and humid conditions, and subject to objectionable odors, aerosols, dust, animal dander, and noise.