Appropriateness of a Resuscitation Council (UK) advanced life support course for primary care dentists

Objectives To investigate whether a standard Resuscitation Council (UK) ALS course is appropriate for primary care dentists or whether a course should be specifically designed for dentists. Design Opinions canvassed by pre-course expectation and post-course evaluat ion questionnaires. Subjects 23 West Pennine primary care dentists providing a general anaesthe tic or conscious sedation service who attended an ALS course. Results Knowledge and skills were rated on a 5-point scale hom 1 (not impor tant at all) to 5 (extremely important). Basic airway management (mean = 5) and anaphylaxis (mean = 4.9) scored the highest on the 'expectation' quest ionnaire. Rhythm recognition (P < 0.001), defibrillation (P = 0.007) and ar rest algorithms (P = 0.047) were rated as significantly more important afte r the course than before. Knowledge about rhythm disorder management, cardi ac pacing, post-resuscitation care, blood gas interpretation and bereavemen t were not considered to be so important either before or after the course. Conclusions Despite rating some aspects as unimportant, all dentists stated that this course had been appropriate. They did not want a specially desig ned ALS course for dentistry. Taking exactly the same recognised course and assessments as other healthcare professionals and gaining the same certifi cation was felt to be important to this group of dentists.