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Course Syllabus

Preventing Medical Errors & Preparing for Medical Emergencies

Contact Hours: 6
Price: $54.00

Published

October 2009

Pages

52

Course Description

An emergency is a medical condition demanding immediate treatment. Emergencies do occur in dental offices: a "classic" survey of 4,000 dentists conducted by Fast and others1 revealed an incidence of 7.5 emergencies per dentist over a 10-year period. Every dentist should have the basic knowledge to recognize, assess and manage a potentially life-threatening situation until the patient can be transported to a medical facility. Successful patient management relies on understanding the pathophysiologic processes and how to correct them.

Medical emergencies have a way of happening unexpectedly. Are you prepared to deal with emergencies that may arise during your workday? What if one of your patients collapsed, would you immediately know what to do? What if one of your office staff collapsed? The best time to prepare for an emergency is well before it happens. This course will teach you how to prepare for an emergency situation in a dental setting. Mark your calendar for 6 months from now to review this course so the material is fresh in your mind. Excellent books by the American Red Cross or American Medical Association are available from your public library. Dr. Malamed's, "Medical Emergencies in the Dental Office" is highly recommended.

Dealing with medical emergencies is not as difficult as most dentists expect. There is far less to know, for example, than what we have already learned and use every day in our practice. Keep in mind that some emergencies end in disaster even in hospitals where there is optimal management. People have heart attacks every day - they may just happen to be in your office at the time. Usually these tragic events happen through no fault of one's own; you just need to be prepared and know what to do to give the patient the best chance of recovery.

Course Objectives

Upon completion of this course, the student should be able to:

1. Understand the rationale behind being prepared for emergencies in the dental office.
   
   
2. Maintain a complete medical emergency kit in office.
   
   
3. Describe an adequate medical evaluation for every patient before administration of medication or dental treatment.
   
   
4. Describe proper treatment protocol for:
   
   
   • Choking
     
   • Airway Obstruction
     
   • Hyperventilation
     
   • Syncope
     
   • Orthostatic Hypotension
     
   • Allergic Reactions
     
   • Local Anesthesia Overdose
     
   • Epinephrine Overdose
     
   • Asthma
     
   • Heart Failure
     
   • Angina
     
   • Heart Attack (Myocardial Infarction)
     
   • Stroke
     
   • Diabetes
     
   • Seizures (Convulsions)

About the Author

Mary Oeding, R.D.H., M Ed.
Mary Oeding has a Bachelor’s Degree in Dental Hygiene and practiced in California for over 13 years. Mrs. Oeding completed a Master’s Degree Program specializing in Educational Research and Scholarly Writing. She has done extensive research on California Law and has written dental continuing education classes for over 10 years.

Testimonial "I like the classes offered and I would like to continue to use this website for the next time I need to renew my license. Maybe offer more courses."

Questions

E-mail: CESupport@DentalLearning.org
Call: 800-522-1207

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