While medical emergencies in the dental clinic are rare, the staff must be prepared to handle any such emergencies. Create an emergency plan so that all staff know what their roles and responsibilities are in different types of emergencies. Require that all clinical staff (or all staff, if you choose) maintain certification in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). Licensure requirements may require a specific course in CPR geared for health professionals, not just the basic CPR course. If the clinic will be using any forms of sedation, then requiring the dentist(s) to also maintain certification in PALS (pediatric advanced life support) and ACLS (advanced cardiac life support) is not unreasonable.

In March 2002, the ADA Council on Scientific Affairs published a report stating that dentists, as health professionals, must be prepared to recognize and properly manage a patient who experiences a medical emergency in the dental office. The ability to provide basic life support may include using an automated external defibrillator (AED). The council recommended that dentists consider purchasing an AED for dental offices in which emergency medical services personnel with defibrillation skills and equipment are not available within a reasonable time frame.

The clinic should also maintain an emergency kit that contains all of the small equipment, supplies, and drugs that might reasonably be needed to treat a medical emergency. The kit should be reviewed on a regular basis, and outdated drugs should be replaced. All staff should know the location of the kit and who is trained to use the items it contains. Click here for information on the materials needed for a medical emergency in the office.

Consider instituting regular drills to test the clinic’s emergency procedures. These drills, often called “code drills,” should be repeated frequently to ensure that all staff are able to perform their required tasks.

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