Kudos to DAN! (Not really a dive incident though)

[Digger54]

Kudos to DAN. I am a diver and a dentist. I keep the DAN emergency oxygen unit in my office for use during the weekdays and take it with me diving. In 20+ years as a professional I have never once had to administer emergency oxygen... till two days ago. The patient had not even been treated yet and reported not feeling well. After they made a trip to the bathroom we found them sitting on the floor in our hallway. As part of our treatment we grabbed the DAN kit and administered O2 right there on the spot. When paramedics arrived they transferred the line on our non-rebreathing mask to their oxygen supply and carried it away with the patient.

Here's the praise: I realized the odds of us needing the oxygen again before another 20 years was slim, but I know how Mr. Murphy and his Law work. So I ordered another mask through DAN. The price was only $5 so I got two. The incident was on Wednesday and the order was placed around noon. Today, Friday, the masks arrived.

No emergencies today. So far, so good. Murphy has not reared his ugly head.

The patient was having a spell of vertigo, btw. She had never experienced it before. That's what I was thinking, but the E.R. doc and a CT scan confirmed it. Worse case would have been CVA, I suppose.

 

[TheWetRookie]

Great job.

Just an FYI from my days as first aid attendant, if you ask the medics for a replacement mask they will give you one, at least where I am they will.

 

[Jersey]

Awesome! What a great idea to keep your unit in office, wonder if my dentist (just saw him yesterday!) has O2... My first thought was a vascular event as well, thankfully not.

 

[Digger54]

Jersey, If your dentist has Nitrous Oxide, then he has oxygen since those two are always mixed when patients are getting the N2O. The attraction of the DAN kit was twofold. For one, my setup for nitrous does not allow for positive pressure O2 delivery. You could not ventilate a patient that is not breathing with 100% O2 because the nitrous masks do not seal. The DAN kit has the mask that would enable rescue breathing.

The other useful feature is it's portability. If you patient is in the waiting room, the nitrous oxide/ oxygen unit that is at the dental chairs does not good.

They say statistically that each dentist will have two life threatening in-office emergencies during a career. I've not had any. Invoking Murphy again, I'll probably be the lucky guy that has both of them --- SIMULTANEOUSLY!!

Regardless, my DAN kit will be there to help me. And it's going to the quarry (Pennyroyal, KY) with me Sunday when I help with a Rescue Diver class.

And the non rebreathing masks were only $5 each. Not worth the trouble to get the EMT's to give me a replacement. I could be a naughty boy and bill the patient, but I won't do that.

 

[jhupka]

Great job.

Just an FYI from my days as first aid attendant, if you ask the medics for a replacement mask they will give you one, at least where I am they will.

As an EMT in that situation I would have tossed you the mask that was going to go on the patient and grab another one from the hospital.