Trying his own way: Steel City Emergency Vet owner uses past experiences to better his business

Since he was a kid living in Ohio, Enrique Carlo has been familiar with emergency medicine. It was not uncommon for his father, who worked at a neonatal intensive care unit, to wake him up at all hours of the night to tag along.

Those childhood experiences prompted Carlo to make the decision at his 11th-grade career day to follow his father’s footsteps and pursue a career in emergency medicine, which began by graduating from undergraduate and veterinary school at Auburn University.

In late 2017, after 20 years in emergency medicine, 13 of them in the veterinary field, Carlo decided the next step was to open his own practice.

“I built this place because I worked in 25 ERs in the country, and I saw what works and what doesn’t work,” he said.

Steel City Emergency Vets, located at 1900 Hoover Court, has almost tripled its business for the projected second year compared to the first. According to Carlo, many small businesses and families in the area have supported Steel City, which has allowed the company to grow organically.

“None of (the growth) would’ve been possible without having the support from the area,” he said.

In fact, business is picking up so much that Carlo has plans for additions to the building, including a new exam room and 500 square feet added to the back for office space. The work will be completed within the next year, he said.

In the long term, Carlo said the location could not be better for business. Having grown up in the area, he said he knew where there was a need and strategically chose a spot on U.S. 31, between Interstate 65 and Interstate 459, making it easily accessible.

Having schools nearby has also been beneficial, as more families means more pets, Carlo said.

Steel City, which is different than a veterinary clinic, does not offer vaccines, spays or neuters. “We can’t be your vet, but we are there when your vet is not available,” he said.

Carlo said his core value is to provide the most medical care possible for each patient. One of their tools to achieve that, while keeping prices low, is by using global FAST (Focused Assessment with Sonography and Trauma) ultrasound technology. This allows the staff to more thoroughly assess the patient, so they can more efficiently and cost-effectively treat them, he said.

A good example of this, he said, is when an older dog comes in and is very weak.

“What other people would do would be take bloodwork and X-rays and go through $300 worth of diagnostics, but we can diagnose the problem in 30 seconds with an $80 ultrasound,” Carlo said.

“There are a lot of things wrong with this industry, so there’s a lot of room for me to try something new that hasn’t been tried before.”

As of July, Steel City officially had five fulltime doctors, one part-time doctor, four relief doctors and 18 nurses and front office staff.

Business hours during the week are at night from 6 p.m. to 7:30 a.m., and all weekend from 4 p.m. on Fridays until 7:30 a.m. on Mondays. Hours also include all holidays. For more information, visit steelcityemergencyvets.com.