A quality improvement project to improve the quality of medical emergency aide-mémoires

Introduction Medical emergencies occur within the dental setting and we have a duty of care to manage them appropriately. Due to perceived anxiety in handling medical emergencies, aide-mémoires were developed to improve staff confidence in the management of these stressful situations.Methods A survey was carried out at The Royal London Dental Hospital to assess knowledge and experience in use of existing supportive materials for medical emergency management. New colour-coded flashcards were subsequently developed, providing guidance to identifying and managing medical emergencies. A questionnaire was produced assessing clinicians' awareness of existing prompts and preferences in relation to the new flashcards. Updated cards were incorporated into simulated medical emergency teaching and evaluated afterwards through a questionnaire.Results A total of 50 responses were gathered across departments to the questionnaire regarding preliminary flashcards: 95% favoured the flashcard approach and felt they would be more helpful managing medical emergencies. The new flashcards were used by 18 clinicians in medical emergency simulation and 17 (94%) felt that using the cards improved their confidence in the handling of medical emergencies.Discussion The flashcards have been perceived to be useful in the handling of medical emergencies within our dental hospital. A similar project may be beneficial to clinical teams working across dental settings.