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REM SYSTEMS Vet Team Help Koalas Affected By Bushfires

One of our experienced Vet Team, Simone Taylor, spent yesterday at the Koala Hospital in Port Macquarie teaching staff how to use the Multi Radiance ACTIVet Laser on the Koala burns patients.

REM SYSTEMS has loaned an ACTIVet Laser to the Koala Hospital for a few weeks to help speed up their healing. The Hospital changes the bandages every three days which requires these beautiful animals to be anaesthetised to help with pain management. 

While undertaking this extremely delicate procedure under anaesthetic, these injured koalas are having their wounds lasered at the same time.

It’s fantastic to see how the REM SYSTEMS veterinary products can make a difference in areas you wouldn’t expect.

Visit our Veterinary product portfolio for Therapeutic Lasers

ActiVet Shower Laser Treatment Procedure

While the koalas are under anaesthetic, a treatment of 250Hz is applied, helping with tissue repair where needed.

The Multi Radiance therapeutic lasers greatly assist healing by stimulating mitochondrial activity within cells, leading to targeted and appropriate healing where required. These lasers also have the capability to address problems such as pain, swelling, inflammation and superficial bacterial infection, simply by adjusting the settings on the units.

Visit our Veterinary product portfolio for Therapeutic Lasers

Rescue, Rehabilitation, Release.

Currently the Koala Hospital have about 40 koalas housed with some in care with volunteers. The care that they provide and the task of coordinating treatment for so many injured Koalas at once is amazing. It is a huge job!

The number of koalas admitted annually can average around 250, with an increase in admissions during the bushfire periods. During this period the Koalas are notoriously difficult to find in the trees, especially when they are burnt, as they appear smaller and are a similar colour to the charred trees around them. 

Burnt koalas are handled with particular care and are transported directly to the Koala Hospital for emergency treatment and care.

The Koala Hospital’s priority is always animal welfare, and it's unfortunate, but some koalas whose prognosis is poor are euthanised to prevent further suffering.

Hoping for a Speedy Recovery

Once healed the Koala's have a long road ahead. Usually the koalas are unable to be released for 6-9 months as they will have no bush to return to. This gives the koala patients time for rehabilitation to strengthen up and allow for a confident release back to their habitat.

Whether koalas have been in long term rehabilitation, or if the Hospital staff are simply moving them out of harm’s way, where possible the koalas are released back to their home range. If unable to be returned to the exact tree from which they were rescued, they are released as close to that tree as possible.

For those koalas unable to be released, they get to enjoy life at the Koala Hospital and become permanent residents. Exhibition koalas can be observed fairly closely, enabling visitors to understand this unique Australian species and the threats to their survival.

Koala Hospital, Port Macquarie

The Koala Hospital operates a 24 hour 7 days a week rescue telephone line that receives calls from concerned members of the public. They admit koalas from across NSW, with the majority coming from the mid north coast. 

The Koala Hospital has trained and experienced rescuers that may be called out, even in the middle of the night or during bad weather. The Rescuers understand koala behaviour and are able to carefully bring a koala down from a tree and secure it for safe transportation.

As well as rescuing and treating koalas, the Koala Hospital also has a focus on conservation and saving koala forests and food. They run their own eucalypt plantations supplying the Hospital with harvested gum leaves for the resident koalas, without compromising the local habitat. 

You are able to help save this magnificent Australian species by getting involved and Adopt a Wild Koala. 

Visit the Koala Hospital website for more information.

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