All staff should receive training in recognition of emergency situations and BLS. A receptionist at the front desk will be the one most likely to be alerted to an emergency in the waiting area. All staff should be familiar with the location of the emergency drug kit, monitoring and resuscitation equipment as well as Emergency Medical Services (EMS). For greater efficiency, each staff member should be assigned a predefined role during an emergency. Periodically these roles should be reassigned to other personnel so staff is familiar with all aspects of emergency management. An efficient emergency team can be organized with as few as two or three staff. In offices where sedation and general anesthesia is administered, training in PALS or ACLS is recommended (and in some states required) for the clinical staff. A suggested assignment of duties follows:
Team member #1 is the first person on the scene when the emergency occurs. Thus, every staff member should be familiar with the Team Member #1 duties since an emergency can occur in any location within the office. After the initial activation of the emergency team, a team with advanced training can assume the role of Team Member #1. Upon discovery of an emergency patient, this member’s responsibilities include:
Team member #2 duties include:
Team member #3 duties include:
