How To Become An Emergency Veterinary Assistant: What It Is and Career Path

What is an emergency veterinary assistant and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being an emergency veterinary assistant. For example, did you know that they make an average of $18.4 an hour? That's $38,269 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 16% and produce 117,800 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreEmergency Veterinary AssistantUS Average

Salary

3.0

Avg. Salary $38,269

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.9

Growth rate 16%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

4.8

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.80%

Asian 8.79%

Black or African American 10.84%

Hispanic or Latino 20.49%

Unknown 4.58%

White 54.49%

Gender

female 62.07%

male 37.93%

Age - 35

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 35

Stress level

7.9

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

6.4

Complexity level is intermediate

7 - challenging

Work life balance

8.6

Work life balance is excellent

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become an emergency veterinary assistant

Explore emergency veterinary assistant education requirements

Most common emergency veterinary assistant degrees

Bachelor's

43.6 %

Associate

24.5 %

High School Diploma

15.5 %

Start to develop specific emergency veterinary assistant skills

Skills	Percentages
Patients	24.94%
PET	20.90%
Patient Care	12.05%
CPR	5.01%
Catheter	4.22%

Complete relevant emergency veterinary assistant training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New emergency veterinary assistants learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as an emergency veterinary assistant based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real emergency veterinary assistant resumes.

Obtain the necessary licensing

Becoming an licensed emergency veterinary assistant usually require a college degree. However, you need to pass an exam to become a licensed emergency veterinary assistant in most of states. 30 states require emergency veterinary assistants to have license for their work. You can see the list of states below.

State	Education	Exam	License url
Alabama	-	-	Licensed Veterinarian Technician
Kansas	Degree required	Third-party exam required	Veterinary Technicians
Kentucky	Degree required	Third-party exam required	Veterinary Technologist/Technician
Alaska	Degree required	Third-party exam required	Veterinary Technician
Arkansas	Degree required	Third-party exam required	Veterinary Technician

Research emergency veterinary assistant duties and responsibilities

Perform and manage procedures including splinting, suturing, electrocardiography and abscess incision and drainage.
Assist in emergency traumas, prepare chest tube drainage systems and perform CPR.
Practice CPR and first aid skills, patient assessment, triage, and emergency responsibility
Prepare and conduct informational groups for patients on eating disorders and chemical dependency.

Prepare your emergency veterinary assistant resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your emergency veterinary assistant resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on an emergency veterinary assistant resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable emergency veterinary assistant resume templates

Build a professional emergency veterinary assistant resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your emergency veterinary assistant resume.