The likelihood of an emergency occurring in your practice may seem low, but it's something you should be prepared for, just in case.
Posted in Dental Insights on Thursday, May 15, 2025
Your employees, especially your treatment staff, should be trained to handle emergencies. Even nonclinical employees should know who to call for help and how to render basic first aid.
The degree and amount of emergency training and equipment your practice needs will vary based on your:
- Patient population
- Location
- Scope of practice
- Proximity to urgent care
For example, one practice might require all staff members to be trained in CPR. But another practice, because of its close proximity to a hospital, may elect to require CPR training for only half its staff.
If you do elect CPR training, your practice should pay for regular refresher courses and compensate employees for their time to take the classes. Other options include conducting in-house training or tying certification to employee bonuses.
The important thing is to make it easy for your employees to abide by your requirements and to make sure to monitor their compliance.
What are the Basics?
Many dentists find prepackaged emergency response kits from medical supply houses to be well worth the cost. Obviously, someone on your staff in must be trained to appropriately use the kit. (However, be cautious about any dental personnel administering medical drugs in an emergency situation, due to liability concerns.)
Any emergency kit should be kept where it will be quickly and easily accessible in an emergency. What’s more, your practice’s emergency kit should be checked regularly to ensure it is up to date and ready for the next emergency.
Procedures and Policies
It’s important to keep the plan’s procedures and policies for handling in-office emergencies in your practice’s office manual. Reinforce this information in your practice’s new staff orientation, as well as in regular staff meetings.
Many offices also perform annual or semi-annual “drills” to ensure that their staff is prepared to promptly and professionally respond. The bottom line is to develop a formal, written emergency plan that can be customized to your practice.
Preparing for emergencies and having the proper policies and training in place is an important part of the overall office procedure. Each staff member should be familiar with your crisis procedures and ready in the event of an emergency.