Dental Tribune U.S. Edition

Dental Tribune U.S. Edition | July 2012 A3CLINICAL Dental office emergency drugs, Part 1 By John Roberson, DMD Key points on emergency drug kits 1) An emergency drug kit is critical in the dental setting. The ADA states that all dentists should have an emergency drug kit, equipment and knowledge to use all items. 2) Emergency drugs along with their actions and dosages should be known by the dentist and his or her team. 3) Know how to use your emergency drug kit before the emergency in your of- fice. 4) Know the location of your emergency drug kit. 5) Develop an emergency drug logbook and review your drugs each month. 6) Never administer an expired drug. 7) Know how to administer each emer- gency drug in your kit. Every dentist should realize that medi- cal emergencies can, do and will hap- pen during the course of practice. These emergencies could be related to dental treatment, patient risk factors, or they could occur unexpectedly in the den- tal environment. A medical emergency could evolve into a life-threatening emer- gency without proper treatment. It is for these reasons emergency medications should be present in dental offices. The majority of states require certain emergency medications if the dentist is performing any type of advanced anes- thesia such as minimal and moderate sedation (either PO or IV) as well as deep sedation/general anesthesia. Emergency drug kit development Dentists can develop their own emergen- cy drug kit. 1) Know which drugs you will need in your office. • Do you need just the "Core-8" drugs? • Do you need more advanced medica- tions such as used in ACLS or PALS proto- cols? • Dentists should be thoroughly knowl- edgeable about the emergency drugs they have in their office. 2) Purchase those drugs and then main- tain them in some type of container, whether it is a plastic container/box or a metal crash cart. 3) Place these emergency drugs in zip- top bags or smaller plastic containers with color coded labels for easy identifi- cation. 4) Know the medical emergencies for which these emergency drugs are used. 5) Develop an emergency drug logbook and keep up with your drugs and their expiration dates. 6) Assign a staff member to serve as the "Emergency Drug Safety Officer," charged with the responsibility of ordering and maintaining the emergency drug kit. 7) Do you need emergency drugs for pe- diatric patients? Note: Many dental software programs may already have a “task manager” or you may have Microsoft Outlook on your computer. You can enter each of your emergency drugs along with their Understand critical office resuscitative emergency (CORE) drugs before you need them John B. RoBeRson, DMD, is a full-time practicing oral and max- illofacial surgeon. He is board certified by the American Board of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery and the National Dental Board of Anesthesiology. He is a co-founder and former CEO of the Insti- tute of Medical Emergency Preparedness (IMEP), and he co-de- veloped the curriculum for Advanced Life Support for Dentistry (ALSD), which covers medical emergencies, airway emergencies, emergency drug kits and medical emergency planning. He co- developed the Emergency Response System (ERS), a comprehen- sive medical emergency program for the dental profession. Rob- erson performed his residency in oral and maxillofacial surgery at University Hospital at the University of Cincinnati. He is a founding member of the American Association of Oral & Maxil- lofacial Surgeons Residents Organization (ROAAOMS) and served as chairman. Rob- erson lectures extensively on emergency drugs and medical emergencies. Interest- ed organizations can contact him at (601) 261-2611 or info@drjohnroberson.com.Photo/Provided by www.dreamstime.com ” See EMERGENCY page A4 Ad