| A eyewash station
is an important safety element in a dental office.
In spite of the use of protective eyewear there is
potential for contamination or injury to the eyes of
dental workers during the course of delivering
dental treatment. Some of the potential hazards
include restorative materials that are being removed
from teeth; spray from air/water syringes,
water-cooled handpieces or ultrasonic scalers; tooth
and bone fragments during surgical extractions; and
chemical exposures. It may seem like an area that
does not require training, however picture yourself
with your eyes stinging and burning, your hands held
over your eyes, while you try to run to the sink and
activate the eyewash station. It may not be as easy
as it sounds.
Kathy Eklund, RHD,
MHP, Associated Professor at The Forsyth Institute
in Boston, MA, shared two training tips that work.
"I blindfold my students, or otherwise obstruct
their vision and then have them find and activate
the eyewash station under this 'impared vision'. I
would suggest that every person in the office
practice this during a safety training session until
they are able to flush their eyes within 10 seconds.
In the event that a real injury was to occur,
knowing how to get to and activate the eyewash
quickly could make all the difference in the world.
During this type of situation, it may also be
difficult to see the telephone keypad to dial the
emergency 9-1-1 number for outside help. Other
situations that might make that difficult would be a
room full of smoke or power failure. Simply placing
raised dots on the '9' and '1' keys on the
telephones could speed emergency assistance when the
telephone keypad is not visible." |
