Emergency drugs and equipment in primary dental care

Summary of Requirements

• Emergency drugs and equipment, including an Automated External Defibrillator (AED), must be available in the dental practice at all times.
• The requirement to take emergency drugs and equipment to each episode of domiciliary care should be on the basis of a risk assessment.
  • If the risk assessment deems the domiciliary care to have a raised level of risk, emergency drugs and equipment must be available to the dental team.
  • A secondary set of emergency drugs and equipment must remain in the practice, when patients are being treated, if the primary set are taken on a domiciliary visit.
• Dental teams must familiarise themselves with current Resuscitation Council UK guidance.
• Resuscitation and medical emergencies training must focus on the dental team, using scenarios to practise assessing and managing sick patients using the ABCDE rapid assessment approach.
• The resuscitation training must include a practical demonstration and training in the use of an AED.
• Records of staff medical emergency training consistent with the training requirements stated in this document must be made available at practice inspection.