Medical emergencies are uncommon, but when they occur it’s imperative that your practice is prepared. This webinar discusses assembling an emergency medical kit, keeping the contents of that kit up to date, and ensuring that your staff are able to respond properly in the case of a medical emergency.
The webinar covers the following topics:
- Emergencies in dentistry
- Why have an emergency medical kit
- What goes into emergency medical kits
- Opioids, the dentist and the prevalence of overdose emergencies
- Pitfalls of maintaining an emergency medical kit
- Pharmaceutical shelf-life
The webinar also covers what the opioid epidemic means to dentists and why it is important for dentists to carry Narcan, what causes variability in the shelf life of medications, the importance training staff in Basic Life Support techniques, and how requirements may vary across states and local jurisdictions.
About the presenter
Dr. Donald Cohen, DMD, has been a licensed practicing dentist in New York State for more than 30 years. He taught at the Columbia University School for Dental and Oral Surgery for more than 30 years and was an Attending Dentist at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital in New York City for more than 20 years. Dr. Cohen is past president of the New York State Society of Dentistry for Children, is currently director of Health Compliance Team Inc., a national compliance company delivering total on-site compliance solutions and seminars to dental offices, and is employed by HealthFirst, a provider of emergency medical kits for dental offices.
Additional information
ADA resources on medical emergencies in the dental office
ADA survey on Medical Emergency Preparedness
Preparing for Medical Emergencies, JADA article
List of State Dental Boards
ADA resources on preventing opioid abuse
Emergency kit checklist [PDF]
How to recognize an opioid overdose [video]