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Topics of Special Interest in an Emergency Medicine Course for Dental Practice Teams
Author(s) -
Weber S.,
Müller M.,
Koch T.
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
european journal of dental education
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.583
H-Index - 41
eISSN - 1600-0579
pISSN - 1396-5883
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0579.2004.t01-7-338ab.x
Subject(s) - medicine , basic life support , medical emergency , dental practice , first aid , population , cardiopulmonary resuscitation , nursing , dentistry , resuscitation , emergency medicine , environmental health
Considering increasing life expectancy and population comorbitity, not only dentists but also nursing staff should gain knowledge and skills in treatment of patients in acute life‐threatening situations. In cooperation with the State Dental Council, a 1‐day course in the management of medical emergencies based on the ERC ALS guidelines was held for primary care dental practice teams. Following a short lecture series (2 hours), a systematic skills‐training session (6 hours) was performed in small groups, addressing the following subjects: BLS, airway management and ventilation, intravenous techniques, manual and automated external defibrillation, ALS and resuscitation routine in a typical dental practice setting. For all skills‐training sessions, life‐like manikins and models were utilized and the emergency scenarios were simulated by the use of a universal patient simulator (SimMan ® , MPL/Laerdal). At the end of the course, an evaluation questionnaire was completed by all candidates to find out in which emergency situations the dental practice teams now felt well trained or incompetent. In the first course with 32 participants, 13 were dentists and 19 were dental nurses. In the evaluation results, 53% of both, dentists and nurses, stated to be competent in cardiac arrest situations. 95% of the nurses, but only 69% of the dentists, thought that an automated external defibrillator should be available in the dental practice. 26% of the dentists felt unable to treat patients with anaphylactic reactions adequately, whereas 37% of the nurses felt incompetent in respiratory emergencies.