Grant: 21-031C
Project Title: Sea Turtle Rehabilitation Anesthesia Machine
Project Manager: Bette Zirkelbach
Organization: Hidden Harbor Marine Environmental Project (The Turtle Hospital) (Non-Profit Organization)
Grant Amount: $7,231.85
Completion Date: 2022-05-03

Summary: The Turtle Hospital will purchase a new anesthesia machine to replace an antiquated anesthesia machine currently at the hospital. The anesthesia machine will be used to anesthetize sea turtles in rehabilitation at the Turtle Hospital for surgery. The Turtle Hospital has been treating sea turtles with Fibropapillomatosis (FP) for over 34 years and continues to be a primary rehabilitation facility for FP sea turtles. To date the most effective method of treatment for sea turtles with FP tumors is surgical removal. Other surgeries performed in the rehabilitation of sea turtles at the Turtle Hospital include flipper amputation due to severe entanglement injuries, hook and line removal, shell repair, fracture fixation, and enucleation. Currently the Turtle Hospital is using an old anesthesia machine that was donated to the hospital in 2010. The current machine has some major issues and replacement parts are not available because they no longer make these machines. A new, reliable anesthesia machine will assure seamless surgeries for treatment of sea turtles at the Turtle Hospital.

Results: The Turtle Hospital purchased an anesthesia machine. The equipment was received and put into use in October 2021. The Turtle Hospital's veterinary team has used the anesthesia machine for sea turtle surgeries on a regular basis to rehabilitate sea turtles.