Much of AAALAC compliance is really about compliance with The Guide. And while certainly
having qualified staff, good training programs, and carefully defined SOPs are the most critical components, having a software application as part of the compliance system can assist in numerous ways.
Here are just a few examples:
- Avoiding overcrowding and managing housing density is mentioned numerous times in The Guide, and the implementation/enforcement of your standards can
be helped by specifying the capacity of cages by cage type. This process was
discussed in our May Quick Tip.
- Rodent surgery record keeping is specifically mentioned in the AAALAC FAQs.
As usual, the guidance is not prescriptive, but requires “appropriate” record
keeping. Since the Elements Veterinary Management module provides an extremely flexible tool to record all types of procedure data for animals, you can easily accommodate (and demonstrate) your “appropriate” record keeping using this module.
This would involve setting up a “rodent surgery” form and task template with the appropriate fields (such as a table field) to record vital signs during the procedure.
- The same approach can also apply to intraoperative monitoring. In fact, with just a little imagination, it can also apply to a host of other activities covered under the various guidelines, including recording details of environmental enrichment, and all of the Veterinary Care section of The Guide.
So, if you are aiming to get or maintain your accreditation, we encourage you to look into incorporating software into your program. The team at TOPAZ are experienced with numerous accredited organizations and would be very happy to help you too.
