“What should I have in my emergency medical kit?” seems to be a common question among dentists and dental professionals. In fact, there is a common consensus among subject matter experts.

Both the ADA and the Journal of the American Dental Association (JADA) have published guidelines for emergency medical kits for general dentistry. Plus, Dental Anesthesiologist Dr. Stanley Malamed, an industry expert and noted lecturer on managing medical emergencies in dental practices, has published clear directives. This industry-wide expert consensus sets the standard for dental emergency medical kits.

What to Include in Your Dental Emergency Medical Kit

From the published guidance, all the groups noted above have endorsed six drugs for a dental emergency medical kit:

  • Epinephrine 1:1,000
  • Albuterol
  • Diphenhydramine (injectable)
  • Aspirin
  • Nitroglycerin
  • Glucose

SM Series kits meet expert guidelines

The HealthFirst SM Series emergency medical kits are designed to meet expert guidelines for general dentistry. The kits include the six essential medications as well as NARCAN® (naloxone). Following the U.S Surgeon General’s advisory and the HealthFirst Medical Advisory Board’s recommendation, HealthFirst now includes NARCAN®, the life-saving drug overdose reversal drug, as a core component of every SM Series kit.

Training your staff

Simply having an emergency medical kit is not enough. Dentists and their teams need to be trained to respond effectively to emergencies. HealthFirst offers convenient training solutions, including one course designed around responding to common medical emergencies with a basic kit like the SM Series kits.

Ensuring medications are always up to date

A second challenge for emergency preparedness is keeping all emergency medications up to date. HealthFirst will take care of this task for you with its Auto-Replenishment Service, which tracks the expiration dates of medications and ships replacements just before expiration. That way you can have peace of mind that your medications will not expire.

The SM Series emergency medical kits

HealthFirst SM Series kits are endorsed by ADA Member Advantage, meet expert guidelines, and are tailored based on your patient demographics. Explore kit options with this easy-to-use kit selector.

Read more at healthfirst.com