Are You Prepared to Deal with Medical Emergencies in Your Office?

Medical emergencies can happen anywhere and at any time. A person can choke on food, experience chest pain, have an asthma attack or simply faint. Are you and your staff prepared to handle similar types of emergencies in your medical office? Do you and your staff have the training and equipment needed to care for the patient until emergency services arrive?

The answers to the above questions depend upon several factors, including: the location of your office, proximity to an emergency department, the type of medical services you provide, the number and experience level of your staff, as well as state and federal law. Your office should have a written emergency preparedness policy and procedure. This will almost always include calling “911”, but what do you do in the meantime?

Not all medical offices need a full crash cart. If you are in a facility where patients have the potential to have a sudden deterioration in their condition, the ACLS Training Center says that a crash cart is essential. In addition, certain facilities are required to have crash carts by state law such as hospitals, and urgent care centers.

If you are not required to have a full crash cart, you would be well advised to:

1. Prepare and document an inventory of the emergency equipment available in your office. Where is the equipment located? Can staff readily access it? Are staff trained in its use?
2. Consider purchasing a medical supply or crash cart or an automated external defibrillator (AED) while taking into consideration your staff members’ ability to use them appropriately. This also requires staff training, retraining and ongoing checking of the equipment to ensure it works or that the contents of the cart are not expired.
3. Inventory and document the medications that are available in your office such as chewable aspirin, EpiPen, Benadryl, Albuterol, Narcan etc.
4. Determine what level of training your staff should have, including Basic Life Support (BLS) or Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support (ACLS), and/or AED training, and ensure such certifications are kept current.

From a safety and liability perspective, it is critical that any anticipated user of the medical equipment or supplies is appropriately trained. If staff members use the AED while rendering emergency medical care, Illinois law provides protection from liability for civil damages, so long as they acted in good faith and according to their training. This type of legal protection varies from state to state.

If there is a medical emergency in your office, it will no doubt be an anxiety provoking experience for you and your staff, as well as for the patient and his/her family. Being prepared with adequate staff training, and equipment/supply availability can have a dramatic impact on the outcome.

For further information contact us.