Medical emergencies can happen in health-care offices. It is our responsibility to be as prepared as possible to manage such an event. Keeping in mind that we may not be specifically trained as emergency physicians, there are still measures that we can take to be somewhat effective in these situations.

This course is broken down into three sections. In the first, we will look at how to prevent an emergency from occurring. Medical history questionnaires and vital sign assessment will be discussed. This will give the participant an understanding as to how to predict which of our patients are medically risky to treat and how to minimize those risks.

The second part of this talk will present basic office emergency protocols using the P – ABC / CAB – D acronym. How to organize your office team, who should do what, and how to use an AED will be discussed.

In the third section of this lecture, specific emergencies and their management will be presented. Syncope, asthma, angina, myocardial infarction, stroke and cardiac arrest will be highlighted. Finally, we will look at how to put together a medical emergency kit.

PRESENTED BY  David Isen BSc, DDS

David Isen’s dental clinic in Toronto, Sleep For Dentistry, is anaesthesia-based, treating patients who require intravenous sedation or advanced techniques in local anaesthesia. Many of these people have special medical needs or are dental phobic.

David has given over 400 presentations around the world on topics related to the management of medical emergencies in healthcare settings, local anaesthesia for dentistry and the use of sedation in dentistry. He has lectured for many university continuing education programs, dental societies and conventions.

He is the author of numerous articles, has peer-reviewed papers for a variety of dental journals and as well has acted as a consultant and product evaluator for dental and pharmaceutical companies.