I am opposed to allowing unlicensed personnel to place intravenous catheters (IVCs). Improperly placed IVCs can damage vessels, allow drugs to be extravasated, or lead to infection. There is not a shortage of licensed personnel, there is a shortage of decent paying jobs. Many skilled, educated persons leave the field due to work hours and wages. Allowing untrained and unlicensed personnel to perform additional tasks does nothing to improve the field of veterinary medicine or fix the problem and only makes it less safe for patients and clients. Although this may appear as a reasonable stopgap measure, it will only make things worse in the long run. There may be some highly experienced and capable assistants but opening up IVCs to unlicensed personnel does not include only those with the skills, but every single untrained person who walks into a clinc. The reasoning from unlicensed personnel that drawing blood is the same as placing an IVC makes it clear that they do not fully understand the ramifications of what they are asking to do. The veterinary oath includes to protect animal health and welfare and allowing unlicensed persons to place IVCs is not doing that.