Are you prepared for a medical emergency?

Not everyone working in dentistry will experience a medical emergency in their career. But life-threatening incidents can and do happen – and the secret of their successful handling lies in any given team’s understanding of their specific roles and responsibilities.

Dental nurse Rebecca Power works in a hospital setting and she has had the misfortune to witness a number of medical emergencies – but these situations (along with regular first aid training) have placed her in an excellent position to confidently deal with what is in front of her – swiftly and effectively.

She recalls, “We have had patients who have had a cardiac arrest whilst being an in-patient on our ward. We have a ‘crash team’ who are called when we have a cardiac or severe life-threatening event, so they bring the defibrillator to assist the heart’s function. There are many times we have had to deal with medical first aid issues and these have always been managed promptly and with great care while abiding by the medical emergency guidelines and following the method of DRABC (danger, response, airway, breathing and circulation).”