August 10, 2020
By Thom Somes, President and Co-Founder of Pet Tech
Executive Overview
Every year, millions of pet owners face the heart-pounding terror of a veterinary medical emergency. Whether it is a sudden choking incident, a severe allergic reaction, heatstroke during the peak of summer, or unexpected trauma, the moments leading up to professional veterinary care can mean the difference between life and death. For decades, human first aid and CPR training have been societal staples, taught in schools, corporate offices, and community centers. Yet, until relatively recently, specialized emergency care training tailored specifically for our four-legged family members remained a glaring oversight in the pet care continuum.
Enter Pet Tech. Founded on a singular, visionary question—What if pet parents and professionals were equipped with the knowledge to handle emergencies before they reached the clinic?—the organization has spent years revolutionizing animal care education.
Led by Thom Somes, widely known as "The Pet Safety Guy," Pet Tech has cemented its status as the world’s first international training center dedicated to pet CPR, first aid, and emergency preparedness. Operating under a bold, quantifiable mission—“To Prevent 1 Million Pet ER Visits”—the organization has quietly achieved staggering milestones. Even amidst the unprecedented global disruptions of the COVID-19 pandemic, Pet Tech crossed a monumental threshold, successfully training over 170,000 students worldwide and completing more than 17% of its grand objective.
This report explores the origins of Pet Tech, the philosophy driving its mission to improve the quality of pets’ lives "one pet parent at a time," the metrics behind its success, and the future outlook of pet safety education in an evolving world.
Detailed Chronology: From a Single Question to a Global Movement
The Spark of Innovation
Every transformative enterprise begins with an inflection point. For Pet Tech, that moment was born not out of an established corporate playbook, but from curiosity and an acute awareness of an unmet need in the pet care ecosystem.
In the early days of the venture, standard veterinary care addressed animals after they arrived at the clinic. However, the critical window between the onset of a medical crisis at home and arrival at an emergency room was largely unmanaged. While many might have dismissed the feasibility of training everyday pet owners in advanced animal first aid, Somes and his co-founders recognized an undeniable opportunity. They saw a world where loving pet parents were woefully underprepared for medical crises, relying entirely on luck rather than learned skills.
Building the Infrastructure
Transitioning a novel concept into an international training standard required rigorous curriculum development, validation from veterinary professionals, and a scalable educational model. Pet Tech set out to bridge the gap between human emergency response training and veterinary medicine.
The curriculum was meticulously designed to cover a broad spectrum of medical contingencies, including:
- Basic and advanced pet CPR (Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation).
- Choking management and airway obstruction relief.
- Assessment of vital signs and recognizing signs of distress.
- Wound care, bandaging, and bleeding control.
- Poison ingestion protocols and toxin management.
- Heat-related illnesses and senior pet care considerations.
By creating standardized, hands-on certification courses for both everyday pet parents and dedicated pet care professionals—such as groomers, dog walkers, and kennel operators—Pet Tech established an entirely new industry vertical.
Scaling Through Crisis: The COVID-19 Era
As the world shifted dramatically in 2020 with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the bond between humans and their companion animals deepened significantly. With millions working from home, pet adoption rates surged, and the presence of pets in daily life became a vital source of emotional stability.
Concurrently, veterinary clinics faced unprecedented operational strains, social distancing protocols, and capacity limitations. In this environment, the work of Pet Tech became more critical than ever. Rather than halting operations, the organization leveraged its robust network of instructors to adapt, ensuring that safety education continued safely. Crossing the milestone of 170,000 trained students during such a tumultuous global period underscored the resilience and absolute necessity of pet first aid education.
Supporting Context & Metrics: The Mathematics of Saving Lives
To understand the profound impact of Pet Tech, one must examine the core metric governing its mission: the direct correlation between education and emergency room avoidance.
The 1-to-1 Impact Hypothesis
Pet Tech operates under a foundational operational belief: Every single student trained in pet CPR and first aid prevents, on average, at least one unnecessary Pet ER visit.
At first glance, this might sound ambitious. However, when analyzed through the lens of preventative medicine, the logic is sound. Consider the common scenarios that trigger frantic trips to the emergency room:
- Choking on Toys or Bones: A panicking owner may waste precious minutes trying to pry an object blindly from a pet’s mouth, pushing it further down the airway. A trained Pet Tech student immediately executes the proper canine or feline Heimlich maneuver, dislodging the object in seconds.
- Minor Lacerations: A bleeding paw pad often sends owners racing to the ER in a panic. A trained pet parent knows how to properly apply pressure, construct a temporary bandage, and assess whether the wound genuinely requires stitches or can be managed at home until regular veterinary hours.
- Ingestion of Household Toxins: Recognizing the signs of poisoning and knowing what not to do (such as inducing vomiting improperly) can neutralize a crisis before it escalates into systemic organ failure.
By empowering pet parents with immediate intervention skills, minor incidents are successfully managed at home, and major emergencies are stabilized effectively before professional care is administered.
The Numbers at a Glance
- Ultimate Goal: Prevent 1,000,000 Pet ER Visits.
- Current Progress: Over 170,000 students trained globally.
- Milestone Marker: Surpassed 17% completion of the grand mission as of the 2020 data threshold.
- Target Audience: Spans everyday pet parents, professional groomers, veterinary technicians, pet sitters, shelter workers, and K9 handlers.
Official Statements and Leadership Vision
At the helm of this international movement is Thom Somes, whose professional moniker—“The Pet Safety Guy”—reflects a lifelong dedication to animal welfare and education.
Perspective from Thom Somes, President and Co-Founder
In reflecting on the journey of Pet Tech, Somes emphasizes that the organization’s success is rooted in empathy and proactive empowerment.
"Pet Tech really did start with one question," Somes reflects. "It was one question that some people would not have taken seriously, or not even considered as a possibility. Instead, it was someone like me who saw an opportunity! One of our Pet Tech goals is to ‘Prevent 1 Million Pet ER Visits,’ which is a lofty goal, BUT we are over 17% of the way as of COVID. That is, we have trained over 170,000 students in Pet CPR and First Aid. That impresses me!"
Somes articulates a philosophy that extends far beyond technical instruction. The ultimate mission, he notes, is focused on “Improving the quality of pets’ lives, one pet parent at a time.”
The Holistic Philosophy of Pet Care
As a bestselling author, speaker, futurist, and pet parent—as well as a proud "grandpaw" to his oldest son’s cat—Somes brings a multifaceted perspective to animal care. He champions the idea that pets are not merely property or companions, but fully integrated family members. Consequently, providing them with the highest standard of safety care is an ethical imperative for modern society.
This philosophy permeates every facet of Pet Tech’s curriculum, emphasizing that education reduces anxiety for both the animal and the human, fostering a deeper, more secure bond.
Future Outlook: The Next Horizon in Pet Safety
As Pet Tech looks toward the future, the roadmap is clear, albeit ambitious. Reaching the 170,000-student milestone is merely a foundational stepping stone toward the ultimate objective of preventing one million emergency room visits.
Expanding Digital and Hybrid Learning Models
The post-COVID landscape permanently transformed educational delivery. To accelerate its mission, Pet Tech is continuously refining its hybrid and digital learning frameworks. While hands-on tactile practice remains irreplaceable for skills like chest compressions and bandaging, digital theoretical modules allow a wider global audience to access foundational safety principles instantly.
Integrating with Professional Pet Care Networks
The future of pet safety lies in universal industry standards. Pet Tech continues to forge partnerships with major pet care franchises, grooming associations, and veterinary groups. By making pet first aid certification a mandatory baseline requirement for all professional pet handlers, the industry moves closer to a unified standard of care.
Cultivating a Culture of Preparedness
Ultimately, the vision of Pet Tech is cultural transformation. Just as fire safety drills and human CPR classes became standard expectations in public life, the organization envisions a world where knowing basic pet first aid is as second nature as buckling a seatbelt.
Through persistent education, passionate instruction, and an unwavering commitment to animal welfare, Thom Somes and the entire Pet Tech community are proving that monumental goals are achieved one empowered pet parent at a time.
