I support allowing veterinary assistants to place an intravenous catheter when a licensed veterinary technician or veterinarian is not available, especially in emergency situtations.  I would train my assistants to place the IV catheters and would trust them to do it just as I trust them to perform their other duties.  Ultimately, the veterinarian is responsible for each patient so I would not give the task of placing an IV catheter to an assistant who was not fully trained to perform this task.  For several years we did not have an LVT, then we had one LVT, and now we are fortunate to have two LVTs.  There have been times when neither one is here and if an emergency came in and the veterinarians were all otherwise engaged it would be in the best interest of an emergency patient to have an assistant place an IV catheter.   Thank you,  Hiedi Orr, DVM