Every year we close the practice for an afternoon so that we can receive training in the event of a medical emergency in the practice.
This is a legal requirement for all dental practices and continues our professional developement and keeps us up to date with the current legislations and equipment that we need in the event of an emergency.
Over 1 year ago this update sparked us to get a defibrillator on site. This is because every second counts in event of an cardiac arrest.
After a cardiac arrest every minute without Cardiopulmonary resusitation (CPR) and defibrillation reduces the survival rate by 10%. http://www.bhf.org.uk/heart-health/nation-of-lifesavers/applying-for-a-defibrillator/public-access-defibrillators.aspx
“Of the 150 000 sudden cardiac arrest that occur in the UK, more than 75 000 might have been saved if an AED had been available in the first few minutes.
The person that collapses in the work place is most likely to be a witnessed arrest. In this case early defibrillation would increase survival rates from less than 5% to more than 50%. “
Below is an image of our defibrillator unit which we all received training on how to use. Its a piece of kit we hope we never have to use but wouldn’t want to be without in the event of an emergency.
Generally it is a good idea to be aware of CPR and how to do it correctly.Below is a link to the nhs choices page detailing what to do.
http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Accidents-and-first-aid/Pages/CPR.aspx