Happy New Year – Highlights of 2023 – Part 1 – January to March

February

The month started with the last instalment of recap 2022.

• Happy New Year – Highlights of 2022 – Part 4 – October – December

As with every year we do our medical emergency course, with 2023 message –

There is one word that sums up medical emergency treatment:

PERFUSION

Perfusion is defined as the passage of fluid through the lymphatic system or blood vessels to an organ or a tissue.

In emergency medicine that fluid is BLOOD,

and preferably carrying OXYGEN.

The organ is the BRAIN,

via the pump of the body – the HEART.

The faster the better!

The ideal percentage of oxygen is best.

• Medical Emergencies in the Dental Practice 2023 – Part 1 – Perfusion

• Medical Emergencies in the Dental Practice 2023 – Part 2 – More Perfusion & LUCAS!

The month ended with a welcome change –

It has been nearly three years since my family got on a plane to get away for a break. The last time was on a flight to the Gold Coast at the beginning of Covid. The borders were not closed then, however fewer people were flying, so the airline decided to cancel our flight and put us on an earlier flight. One and a half days later, the restaurants were closed and the border into Queensland was soon closing. So in the hire car we drove back home to Sydney virtually non-stop!

Fast forward to now. We decided to go to Melbourne for a break and catch up with friends. Again, our evening flight was cancelled but this time it wasn’t an earlier flight but on an earlier plane! A twin propeller plane to Canberra then a smaller jet plane to Melbourne. We left later and doubled our travelling time. We nearly got to out hotel room the next day! Covid! Less staff and less reliable planes due to – you guessed it – less staff. Fun!

• Dentist At Large – Melbourne – Part 1

March

We continue with our intrepid dentist being let loose in Victoria.

• Dentist At Large – Melbourne – Part 2 – Mornington Peninsula & A Dental Twist

Our friends kindly showed us around the Mornington Peninsula when we stumbled across a Quarantine Station Museum near Portsea next to the bay. This is the dental twist. We have steriliser (or autoclaves) that sterilises our instruments.  Remember Covid is one of a long list of pandemics that have afflicted our planet. The last pandemic was the Spanish Flu born of the First World War. All the precautions we used during Covid were figured out during the Spanish Flu, except they had no vaccine – 25 million people died. However, they had sterilisation! The quarantine station has a huge one.

• Dentist At Large – Melbourne – Part 3 – The City

At our Cynergex, at the surgery, yearly Medical Emergency training there is something new to learn or to emphasise.

The most important sign that all is not well with a person is their breathing. Firstly, we don’t normally notice people breathing, as it’s quiet.

Secondly, we don’t notice how many times they breathe as it not normally noticeable.

Below are the numbers of breathing to consider.

Normal Respiratory Rate:

Adult

• 12 – 20 per minute

Child (9-15 years)

• 15 – 25 per minute

Shocked Patient:

Adult

• Above 25 per minute
• Below 10 per minute

Child (9-15 years)

• Above 25 per minute
• Below 10 per minute

Basically the maths work out for a patient who is going into a cardiac arrest will have one or less breathes every 5 secs.

Start CPR!!!

• Medical Emergencies in the Dental Practice 2023 – Part 3 – In Surgery Demo

Then a real life situation occurred…………

• Medical Emergencies in the Dental Practice 2023 – Part 4 – In Real Life!