Did you know that dental practises are expected to provide AEDs?

According to the Resuscitation Council (UK), primary dental care facilities are obligated to provide a high-quality resuscitation service: this includes having an automated external defibrillator (AED) on-site, along with other appropriate equipment, and training staff to carry out resuscitation.

The guidance for dental practises states that all clinical dental areas should have immediate access (i.e. within minutes of a cardiorespiratory arrest) to resuscitation equipment and an AED. All staff must have the means for calling for immediate help, and must be familiar with the location of all resuscitation equipment within their working area. Equipment should be checked every week, and should be latex-free wherever possible.

The following is the Resuscitation Council’s suggested minimum equipment list, along with links to relevant products available from our website.

Airway and breathing

• Protective equipment – gloves, aprons, eye protection
• Pocket mask with oxygen port
• Portable suction
• Oropharyngeal airways (sizes 0, 1, 2, 3, 4)
• Self-inflating bag with reservoir (adult & child)
• Clear face masks for self-inflating bag (sizes 0, 1, 2, 3, 4)
• Oxygen cylinder (CD size)
• Oxygen masks with reservoir
• Oxygen tubing

Circulation

• Automated external defibrillator (AED) – Shop for defibrillators from: Telefunken, LifePak, PowerHeart, Philips, Lifeline, Zoll, HeartSine
• Adhesive defibrillator pads – These vary for each brand of defibrillator. Shop for pads and other accessories for AEDs from: Telefunken, LifePak, PowerHeart, Philips, Lifeline, Zoll, HeartSine
• Razor
• Scissors

The Resuscitation Council also recommends the use of their standard AED sign to indicate the location of an AED. You can buy this, other related AED signs, and wall cabinets for AEDs here.

You can arrange for your staff to learn how to perform defibrillation and CPR with a half-day course from Safety First Aid Training. More comprehensive first aid courses are also available: click here to see all of Safety First Aid Training’s courses.

For the full Resuscitation Council guidance, you can click here.