American Dental Association Recommendations for Emergency Kits

The ADA recommends that dental practitioners train staff members in Basic Life Support (CPR) and maintain reasonable emergency kits with appropriate emergency medications.  From the ADA Council on Scientific Affairs' report:

In designing an emergency drug kit, the Council suggests that the following drugs be included as a minimum: epinephrine 1:1,000 (injectable), histamine-blocker (injectable), oxygen with positive-pressure administration capability, nitroglycerin (sublingual tablet or aerosol spray), bronchodilator (asthma inhaler), sugar and aspirin. Other drugs may be included as the doctor’s training and needs mandate. It is particularly important that the dentist be knowledgeable about the indications, contraindications, dosages and methods of delivery for all items included in the emergency kit. Dentists are also urged to perform continual emergency kit maintenance by replacing soon-to-be-outdated drugs before their expiration.

For offices in which emergency medical services, or EMS, personnel with defibrillation skills and equipment are not available within a reasonable time frame, the dentist may wish to consider an automated external defibrillator, or AED, consistent with AED training acquired in the BLS section of health care provider courses.