assessment of dentists' knowledge about medical emergencies

Medical emergency when occurs in a dental environment should be handled efficiently and effectively in order to sustain life until medical help arrives. This study aimed to enhance knowledge amongst dental practitioners about the possible risks of a medical emergency to improve patient care. A questionnaire based study was conducted in the dental teaching hospitals of the twin cities, Rawalpindi and Islamabad in 2015. The questionnaire comprised of three sections to assess dentists' perception and dentists' knowledge on the commonly faced medical emergencies along with dentists' confidence in performing Basic Life Support [BLS]. 215 questionnaires were distributed out of which 192 were returned. The study sample included 122 female and 70 male dentists with a minimum clinical experience of one year. The results showed 71.4% received a formal BLS training while 84.4% wanted to receive thetraining. Moreover, the mean medical emergency score obtained was 5.28 out of a maximum of 10. 55.2% of the dental practitioners felt confident in performing Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation [CPR], out of which, 80.5% had the correct knowledge of performing a CPR according to this study. The most significant finding was almost half of the dentists lack the knowledge and necessary training. Hence, in order to improve quality of patient care annual BLS courses should be made mandatory

Predicted and recorded vital capacity in students of Shalamar medical and dental college, Lahore

The study aimed at observing the difference in predicted and recorded Vital Capacity in young Pakistani adults. Female students [n=46] and male students [n=30] belonging to age group 18-20 years, height 150-190 Cm, and with no history of smoking or respiratory ailment participated in the study. Predicted Vital Capacity was calculated by using the formula based on age and height. Vital Capacity was recorded on Students' Spirometer of 9 L capacity. A statistically significant difference between predicted and recorded Vital Capacity [p<0.05] for both female and male medical students was observed. In females, recorded Vital Capacity values were 22% less than predicted values, and in males they were 23% less than the predicted value. Vital Capacity is dependent on other factors besides age and height. Therefore recorded values 77-78% of predicted should be considered normal. The incorporation of weight in prediction equation would result in better estimation of Vital Capacity in Pakistan for different age groups