Recently I had the privilege of interviewing Dr. Catharine Goodson for the Thriving Dentist Show on the topic of how to prepare for medical emergencies in the dental office. This is a critically important topic. Here’s a link to this excellent interview:
In the interview, Dr. Goodson shares her personal experiences with the medical emergency in her own practice that was the genesis of her interest in this very important topic. Research done at the University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio reveals that every practicing U.S. dentist will face approximately eight potentially life-threatening medical emergencies in their offices every 10 years. That means there will be approximately 150,000 dental medical emergencies in the U.S. every year. More and more dental emergencies are due to unanticipated interactions between sedation and the medications a patient is taking. According to the American Medical Association, in 2010 the average American between the ages of 35 and 50 was currently taking seven prescribed medications (an increase from four in 2002).
Dr. Goodson has developed a three part plan to prepare for medical emergencies. 1) A properly constructed Medical History form 2) A complete emergency drug kit and 3) A properly trained and empowered staff. In an effort to help colleagues prepare for a possible medical emergency, Dr. Goodson has developed an excellent training resource called, Medical Emergency Mastery for Dental Practices that is composed of a 4 Disk DVD training system that has specific content for Dentists and Team Members as well as an instruction manual that provides the comprehensive three step emergency training plan listed above. This material is outstanding and provides this important training in a convenient and cost-effective format. Dr. Goodson was kind enough to provide discounted pricing on this training resource to readers of my blog. Please see the link below for more information:
http://www.catharinegoodson.com/thrivingdentist.html
While I hope you never need to deal with a medical emergency, odds are that you will indeed face multiple medical emergencies in your career. Preparation is the key to successfully navigating these emergencies. Hopefully this blog post will encourage you to prepare to successfully deal with medical emergencies. Keep Smiling!
