Guidelines Committee
Specialists in Evidence Evaluation and Clinical Recommendations
The Reassessment Campaign on Veterinary Resuscitation (RECOVER) Initiative brings together distinguished experts in veterinary resuscitation science with professional contributors from other disciplines and will employ a process similar to that used to generate the American Heart Association guidelines for CPR in people. The human CPR guidelines are developed through the work of the International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation (ILCOR), a working group composed of members of a number of international organizations that conducts in-depth standardized literature reviews targeted at hundreds of individual issues in emergency cardiac care. Each issue is evaluated using GRADE (Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation), a standardized evidence evaluation method. The method is used to formulate a final consensus statement on CPR, which regional organizations (e.g., AHA) utilize to generate regional guidelines.
RECOVER Guidelines: Based in Evidence, Backed by Consensus
The RECOVER CPR Guidelines are developed and updated on a continuous, rolling basis, with each domain independently reviewed and published as the body of evidence evolves. This approach ensures that clinicians have access to the most current, evidence-based recommendations across all areas of veterinary CPR.
The original RECOVER CPR Guidelines, published in 2012, established the framework for resuscitation practice across five foundational domains: Prevention and Preparedness, Basic Life Support, Advanced Life Support, Monitoring, and Post-Cardiac Arrest Care.
Since their inception, the guidelines have expanded in both scope and depth. Basic Life Support, Advanced Life Support, and Monitoring were updated in 2024, with Newborn Resuscitation following in 2025. Prevention and Preparedness, First Aid, and CPR: Point-of-Care Ultrasound are scheduled for publication in 2026, CPR: Anesthesia and Analgesia and Large Animal: Foals in 2028, and Post-Cardiac Arrest Care in 2028.
Each domain is led by a team of Domain Chairs and Co-Chairs who work alongside Information Specialists to develop search strategies and produce Evidence Profile Worksheets, which form the basis of the Treatment Recommendations released for stakeholder review prior to final publication. Evidence Evaluators perform systematic reviews of the literature using the GRADE method to inform this process.
RECOVER Guidelines Committee
RECOVER Initiative Co-Chairs
Manuel Boller, Dr. med. vet., MTR, DACVECC
Jamie M. Burkitt-Creedon, DVM, DACVECC
Dan Fletcher, PhD, DVM, DACVECC
RECOVER Domains and Associated Chairs
Prevention and Preparedness
- Domain Chair: Maureen McMichael, DVM, DACVECC
- Domain Co-chair: Jennifer Herring, DVM, MS, DACVECC
- Domain Co-chair: Sabrina Hoehne, Dr. Med Vet, DACVECC, DECVECC
Basic Life Support
- Domain Chair: Kate Hopper, BVSc, MVS, PhD, DACVECC
- Domain Co-chair: Steven Epstein, DVM, DACVECC
Advanced Life Support
- Domain Chair: Elizabeth Rozanski, DVM, DACVIM, DACVECC
- Domain Co-chair: Gareth Buckley, MA, VetMB, DECVECC, DACVECC
- Domain Co-chair: Jake Wolf, DVM, DACVECC
Monitoring
- Domain Chair: Ben Brainard, VMD, DACVAA, DACVECC
- Domain Co-chair: Selena Lane, DVM, DACVECC
Post-cardiac Arrest Care
- Domain Chair: Joanna Goic, DVM, DACVECC
- Domain Co-chair: Hendrik Lehmann, Dr med vet, DACVECC
- Domain Co-chair: Rebecca Walton, DVM, DACVECC
Large Animal
- Domain Chair: Gayle Hallowell, MA VetMB, PhD, Cert AVP (Veterinary Anaesthesia), DipACVECC, DipACVIM, PFHEA, FRCVS
- Domain Co-chair: Mark Bowen, BVetMed MMedSci PhD CertVA CertEM(IntMed) DipACVIM-LAIM PFHEA FRCVS
Newborn Resuscitation
- Domain Chair: Christopher Byers, DVM, DACVECC, DACVIM (SAIM), CVJ
- Domain Co-chair: Kate Farrell, DVM, DACVECC
- Domain Advisor: Autumn Davidson, DVM, MS, DACVIM
First Aid
- Domain Chair: Debbie Mandell, VMD, DACVECC
- Domain Co-chair: Vince Thawley, VMD, DACVECC
CPR: Point-of-Care Ultrasound
- Domain Chair: Søren Boysen, DVM, DACVECC
- Domain Chair: Laura Cole, MA, VetMB, MVetMed, PgCert(VetED), CertAVP(ECC), MRCVS, DACVECC, DECVECC, FHEA
CPR: Anesthesia and Analgesia
- Domain Chair: Ben Brainard, VMD, DACVAA, DACVECC
- Domain Chair: Colleen Hickey, DVM, DACVAA
- Domain Chair: Veronica Salazar, LV, MS, PhD, DACVAA
