Unfortunately, the only really good, reliable emergency vets I have been to were in Los Angeles and the surrounding area. They had a lot of business.
You can usually find good emergency services anywhere there is a vet school, but that doesn't help us here. As well, the good ones don't usually choose to go into emergency medicine- they decide to try for a nice area where they can practically choose their clients and work schedule...also-business is sketchy, depending on where you are...and a lot of people will rather wait it out than get up in the middle of the night and drive somewhere (there are far fewer people like us that actually feel our pets are part of the family, than those that feel they are 'just an animal'- no biggie:shudder
, only to be told that there is a minimum 250 charge when they walk in- I have my own horror story about this concerning a cat that was sleeping on my friends truck motor when we decided to take off for a movie...I re-live that night all the time...and I start to blame the vet for the outcome (it wasn't my cat- no tag- in dire condition and they wouldn't even look at it without $$$, and I was making $8 an hour, (also going to school)...)...There are a lot of good vets, but they usually opt for daylight hours, soft, fluffy kitties and well heeled clients- not the kind of no-name, no-tag, broken backed dogs and crushed cats that the emergency vet sees at 0200 after the bars let out.
I wanted for years (and still have fantasies about it involving big lottery dollars) to go to Tufts and become an animal vet, and open a 'house' call veterinary service. If I had the education, I would certainly try this. I think it would be a nice change from the way the industry has begun to go. Speaking of which... some of the machines and tools they use now are more expensive than anything you will see in a dentist office!
I really feel for you- my own dog got into a WHOLE bag of hershey's kisses and I almost threw up I was so petrified- but the vet said that unless I wanted to pay a 75 fee to see them without an appt, I should just wait it out... I have a minimal (EXTREMELY minimal- but I can read and research) amount of knowledge about veterinary science (personal interest) and looked through my books to figure out how bad it really was- turns out I was making the same judgement call the vet was making only for far less $$. This is my personal solution- learning basic first aid and understanding some of the basic physiology/biology of animal science (at least when it comes to dogs). I can't perform anything complex, but I can reassure myself as to the seriousness of things when they happen, and do some preliminary / preventative aid.
Good luck in your quest!
Do you EVER stop? 
