Managing a cardiac arrest: evaluation of final-year predoctoral dental students

An increasing proportion of the population is medically at risk. Dental providers can encounter a cardiac arrest (CA) while treating their patients. Several studies have assessed qualified dental surgeons on the management of medical emergencies, but to our knowledge there is no reported study about dental students. The aim of this study was to evaluate final-year dental students in their ability to recognize a cardiac arrest and to apply cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). We evaluated, with a questionnaire, how seventy-six final-year dental students self-assessed their capacity in the management of CA. Then we randomly selected twenty-two of the final-year students and compared their answers on the self-assessment questionnaire to their objective ability to perform CPR. Though 53 percent of the students who answered the questionnaire felt they were able to manage a CA, the performance of the twenty-two students selected to demonstrate CPR was poor. Only two performed an appropriate CPR, and none combined an adequate CA diagnosis with an appropriate CPR. In conclusion, the predoctoral dental students evaluated in this study were not able to diagnose and manage a CA. The findings indicate that the teaching of cardiac arrest management should be revised. Students should learn and review the theoretical and practical components of cardiac arrest recognition and management in a more intensive manner.