Many states require that Dentists (and even staff members) maintain current BLS, ACLS and/or PALS.
Additionally, there are requirements that Dentists have and maintain suitable emergency oxygen and have emergency drugs "as a reasonable Dentist with your training and experience."
As a State Board Investigator, I investigated patient deaths and hospitalizations. I saw the real life consequences for Dentists who were not prepared for Medical Emergencies in their practice. Not only do you have the legal and administrative hassles, the worst consequence is that you have to live with yourself.
Medical Emergencies are real and being prepared is vital. It starts with training and proper patient medical health evaluation on EVERY patient.
In nearly every office we visit, we find one or more expired drugs in the emergency drug kit. Many offices have an automatic renewal service to replace drugs as they expire. Even in those offices we find about 8 out of 10 kits have one or more expired drugs.
Have your staff check your emergency drugs on a regular basis. Assign one staff person to oversee this task. The drugs have to be currently dated and in usable condition. Accountability and documentation are key.
Emergency oxygen means different things to different Dentists. Here is my philosophy to guide you in understanding what equipment you need to have on hand. If a patient were to stop breathing while in your care can you adequately oxygenate that person until EMS arrives? Can you maintain a patent airway? Can you provide an adequate volume of oxygen? Can you provide a high concentration of oxygen?
Take a moment to right now check your emergency drug kit before you become distracted. You never know how this experience might affect you down the road.
Need help with expired drugs? Check out our trusted partner, ProtectIt for easy order drugs, auto-refill and reliable expiration tracking!
Make today your greatest ever!
-Tink
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Dental Compliance Specialists helps make dental offices safer for patients, dentists and their employees. We help our clients develop and maintain their compliance programs including OSHA/Infection Control, HIPAA, DEA regulations and prescribing practices, Radiation Safety, OIG/Medicaid Compliance, Record Auditing, and more by providing actionable systems, easy-to-use tools, robust training, and accountability. Most of our clients have never been in trouble and want to keep it that way. Sometimes, though, dentists call when they are in trouble. In either case, we are there to make a meaningful difference. If you need help call us at 817-755-0035.