Darvall has a deep understanding of the challenges of veterinary anaesthesia.
Setting the Standard for Patient Wellbeing.
Founded Dr. Colin Dunlop, board certified veterinary anaesthetist and past-president of the American College of Veterinary Anaesthesia and Analgesia.
The Darvall team has an extensive background in veterinary anaesthesia, engineering, education, animal safety and technical services.
Darvall’s low-flow anaesthesia solutions are environmentally and economically efficient reducing consumption of oxygen, inhalant agents and other consumables while cutting environmental emissions:
Be a world-leading innovator, designer and manufacturer of premium, quality-assured, intelligent anaesthesia and critical care products and applications.
To deliver improved patient outcomes, better economic performance and permit professionals to demonstrate high levels of competence whilst minimising negative environmental impacts.
The main feature that underpins our attention to the environmental footprint of veterinary anaesthesia is to bring safe, reliable low-flow rebreathing systems to all patients from 2-80kg. Using this technique can reduce consumption of anaesthetic gasses and resultant environmental emissions by approximately 90%. The Darvall Stingray’s innovative design allows operators to run low-flow anaesthesia with familiar vaporiser settings; no special training is required.
AAS continues to innovate in this regard; we are currently researching recyclable materials for our Cozy Warming blankets, to deliver excellent patient warming without disposable materials.
2.1 Commitment to Greenhouse Gas Reduction:
Environmental responsibility is a core commitment of AAS. We are a world-leader in developing solutions and technology specifically for veterinary anaesthesia to address the long-standing problems of high consumption and high WAG emissions from inefficient high fresh gas flow non-rebreathing systems widely used in small animals under 10 to 15kg. In 2012, with grant funding support for the Australian Government Department of Industry, Science and Technology, the company has invested over AU$6 million in R&D to develop the technology and produce the innovative solutions we have available today. AAS/Darvall new technology, devices and systems such as low-flow anaesthesia equipment are reducing atmospheric WAG emissions by up to 90%.
2.2 Commitment to Energy Consumption / CO2 production
AAS takes the environmental challenges of manufacturing seriously, particularly with the increasing demands of our customers to be environmentally responsible. Over the last year or so, we have been working on a system to facilitate assessment of our products and devices in terms of CO2 production, which can be considered a measure of power consumption. At staff meetings we try to develop solutions to such questions we or our customers ask, such as the recent UK requirement to declare the weight of plastic packaging. In Australia, availability of green power supply options for industry are developing and AAS will participate as availability increases. Recently AAS replaced all lighting in our offices, warehouse and factory with low-power modern LED systems, resulting in decommissioning nearly 100 double strip flouro lights as well as over 20 halogen down lights.
2.3 Sustainability Initiatives
Waste Management Plan: AAS currently recycles all cardboard & paper, most plastics, batteries, all metal waste and electronic PCBs. Our goal is to try to make new product protective packaging environmentally friendly, recent examples being the packaging for our Heated Breathing Circuit Controller kit, our Stingray Low-Flow Circle Absorber kit and our Cozy Cwik Kennel Door Adapter kit. AAS Vaporiser Service recycles inhalation anaesthetic used for vaporiser calibration, where up to 100mls of liquid agent can be used in calibration of individual vaporisers. AAS scavenges waste anaesthetic gas into charcoal which is disposed of by burial to minimise atmospheric release anaesthetic vapor. AAS re-uses all foam packaging inserts used to protect vaporisers in shipment – typically getting 6 to 8 cycles of use from each piece of poly-ethylene packaging.
Education has been a major focus for Dr Dunlop, with 15 years’ experience teaching veterinary students at Colorado State University He returned to Australia in 1995, running 2-day Introductory and Advanced Anaesthesia workshops for GP veterinarians, nurses and technicians over 20 years. He also provided face to face and remote anaesthesia training for veterinarians and technicians in Hong Kong and China.
During Covid, Dr Dunlop and Darvall clinical support successfully delivered many in-hospital training sessions virtually via Zoom and similar platforms, particularly in a “lunch & learn Q&A” format. Darvall is happy to work with groups to develop and provide similar virtual training for hospitals with the “Lunch & Learn” format proven to be a successful model. These sessions can be recorded for wider distribution and to facilitate continuous training. We are developing other educational opportunities such as “Daily Anaesthesia Machine Set-Up & Pressure Testing” as need is identified.
All Darvall anaesthesia machines come with Check List Cards for Anaesthesia Machine Set-Up & Testing, Endotracheal Tube Cuff inflation and Emergency CPR. Critical Situation Management check list cards are also available for Bradycardia, Hypoxia, Hypoventilation and Hypotension / Poor Perfusion.
Darvall provides comprehensive Instruction Manuals for all anaesthesia equipment that include set-up, testing, trouble shooting, any end-user maintenance requirements and a list of all components. In addition, because of Dr Dunlop’s clinical experience, most manuals include a section on “Clinical Guide to Use”, generally with a simple “How to Get Started” section.
The Darvall Low-Flow Stingray has its own manual that includes a simple guide on “Getting Started with Low-Flow Anaesthesia”.
