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Dear Doctor:
Thank you allowing me the time to explain our Dental ACLS experience. To establish a standard of safety, most Dental Boards require Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) certification if the Dentist utilizes either oral or intravenous medications to sedate their patients. However, no thought is usually given to the office staff which has little or no experience in performing these intricate resuscitation skills. In hospitals, members of the emergency team are preassigned based upon their shift, experience, and job description. However, in a dental office, given the myriad of staff scheduling, it is not possible to reliably pre-assign team responsibilities.
A hospital ACLS course requires you to go through three (3) different cardiac-arrest simulations employing: a) a team made up of the course participants (paramedics, nurses and physicans), b) unfamiliar emergency equipment, and c) simulated circumstances unlikely to occur in a dental facility.
Ask yourself, what good are my ACLS skills if my clinic staff doesn’t know what I want, what it’s called, where to find it, or how to use it? You ask for epinephrine and they hand you the correct drug but the wrong dilution or the right drug but don’t affix the proper needle. I can’t stress how important this is. You and your staff will be trained using your emergency equipment in your operatory. During these simulations, you may find that your crash cart was too bulky to move quickly or you might find that your staff didn’t really know what to bring when you called for an emergency response. The most illustrative story that I have (and this really happened) was that the AED was placed on a shelf unreachable by the shorter staff. There they were, leaping for the top shelf becoming more and more frustrated by the second while you unwittingly wonder what is taking them so long. Let's face it, emergencies are stressful enough when working with a familiar team and accustomed equipment.
David Doernbach, Ed.D.., our renown medical-dental educator with 33 years ACLS teaching experience , uses primarily dental emergencies such as larygospasm, bronchospasm, and allergic reactions (to name a few) as the origins for these simulations. What good are primarily cardiac simulations going to do for a dentist? Dr. Dave keeps it real using simulated emergencies that the dentist might actually experience. He received his Doctorate in Adult Education from the University of Arkansas and has been teaching Advanced Life Support methodology for 33 years. In 1978, he initiated the first ACLS course at the University of Arkansas Medical School where he currently holds a teaching post as Clinical Faculty in the Department of Anesthesiology. He was also the first Arkansas coordinator for Advanced Trauma Life Support® (ATLS) with the American College of Surgeons for over twenty years. |
Through this hands-on workshop, you and your staff (both front and back office) will be taught to act as a unit….an Emergency Response Team (ERT). With you as team leader, each person will be cross-trained so that they can play any members of the team: CPR compressor, Ventilator, Recorder, Defibrillator, or Medication specialist. Training emphasis will be one-half on cognition and one-half on hands-on psychomotor skills. |
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Along with Dr. Dave’s DVD ECG for Dental Professionals, watched before his arrival, he will require an evening from 6-10 pm with you and he. In addition, he would need the morning and afternoon (until 3:30pm) of the next day to work with you and your staff (both front and back). He will use your emergency equipment to run simulations of different dental and medical emergencies. Upon successful completion you would receive an ACLS certification card and your staff would receive certifications of attendance for 6 hours.
Study materials are included and sent well in advance. The only information that dr. Dave requests for you to pre-study is the ECG DVD; everything else he will lecture or teach. That is why he does so well in this field. He can actually make ACLS fun, as well as educational, while reducing your study instances. Don’t waste your valuable time preparing, let him teach you. Read on for more information and then call ……… |
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Have Dr. Doernbach come to your office
Certify or recertify you in ACLS, train your staff, and prep your office for emergencies. |
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This includes: |
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- ACLS certification for the Dentist
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- An ACLS textbook and the two training DVD’s (How to Survive ACLS and ECG for Dental Professionals.
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- Written by Dr. Dave, a complementary Advanced Dental Life Support® (ADLS) system of flipchart and clipboard which details all of the ACLS information and various Dental Emergencies (laryngospasm, bronchospasm, allergic reaction, etc.) necessary to comply with your Dental Board requirements. [retail @ $199].
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- Your entire staff (front and back office) trained to support you during an emergency. Staff training is limited to supporting the Dentist, not formal ACLS certification. However, they will be taught to use: a) 911 scripting; b) oropharyngeal and nasopharyngeal airway placement; c) pocket face mask; d) bag valve masking (Ambu bag); e) use of the AED; f) proper utilization of your mobile oxygen tank; g) placement of an advanced airway; h) assisting the Dentist in starting an intravenous line or intraosseous line; i) to assist the Dentist in assembling appropriate ACLS drug therapy and finally, j) keep the Dentist on task with color flow charts, that Dr. Dave has put together, showing what to do next for the entire ACLS algorithm….all in pictures.
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- Check your office for legal compliance on how to properly document:
- Your controlled medications (triazolam, valium, fentanyl etc.) to satisfy Federal Department of Drug Enforcement (FDA) requirements
- In-house simulation training of staff on a periodic basis
- Bi-weekly equipment checks of all equipment (oxygen tanks, fire extinguishers, ect)
- AED checks
- Expiration dates on drugs, AED batteries, portable oxygen cylinders, etc.
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- Check each item of your emergency equipment for adequacy, office placement, and how to use it. Dr. Dave will suggest alternatives to your emergency items that may be more Dentist-friendly. A good example is your emergency medication wrap. Usually people use a “tackle box” and put the drugs inside. The problem presents itself when you are looking of a specific drug, during a once-in-a-lifetime emergency….it is not easy. A better approach might be an emergency wrap. Designed by Dr. Dave, they are meant to lie across the patient’s legs and expose every drug or airway device to your eyes without placing equipment or drugs where you can not readily see it. These are only two items, there are dozens more. Dr. Dave will go through each piece of your current equipment inventory and you can make decisions based upon your needs.
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- A system of color labels to identify all of the ACLS drugs, IV equipment, and advanced airway devices. The colors on the emergency flowcharts make ACLS drug therapy go smoothly.
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- In addition, An “emergency documentation sheet” is included that uses these labels to make recording “what is happening” easier for the staff recorder. Remember, the staff has to write down everything that is happening, the drug, its dosage, and the times it was administered. Peeling off the colored labels from the drug box (with the name and the dosage already on it) makes the documentation easier.
When: You decide when to hold it….any day that Dr. Dave has open. Call 800-844-2257 to check
Where: Your office
Times: Depends on whether you are certifying for the first time or just recertifying. First timers need the evening of the night before PLUS the next day from 8am through 4pm. Recertifications only require one day from 8am through 4pm |
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The price for Dr. Dave to come to your office:
$2950. + Dr. Doernbach’s travel expenses. This fee includes training for ALL of the front and back office dental employees. If you have any other ACLS certified staff (other Associate Dentists or RDH’s) that are currently certified and wish recertification, Dr. Doernbach can recertify them for $1250 each.
If your staff contains uncertified ACLS Dentist Associates, you can incorporate them as "staff" during the training with no additional fee.
When other Dental Offices participate within the same week, Dr. Doernbach will divide the travel expenses among all of the locations to further decrease the cost associated with Dr. Dave's travel.
Please give the office a call. Remember, Dr. Dave’s schedule fills quickly, don’t wait until the last moment…..lock him into a scheduled time that is right for you! Call now at 800-844-ACLS (800-844-2257) or outside US 662-357-6808.
Please feel free to contact our office and request a phone number of any of my current Dental Contracts so that you can ask them what they think about the on-site course! We have multiple testimonials on file…..just ask. Oh by the way, if you just wish to purchase the ADLS® system, it is available for $300.
Donna A. Harmon, PhD
VSU, Inc.
5000 Prichard Rd
Tunica, MS 38676-9608
PH: 800-844-2257
(outside US: 662-357-6808)
FAX: 662-357-9784
dharmon@vsu.com
http://www.vsu.com
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