​The Cardiff Simulation Centre has been providing inter-professional simulationtraining in management of medical emergencies for Dental Sedation MSc postgraduate students since 2008. This takes the form of scenario-based sessions where participants engage with a patient simulator, managing a medicalemergency common to the dental sedation environment. Group debriefing in which facilitated reflection is encouraged follows each scenario.

There is evidence to show that simulation can produce improvements in performance in managing medical emergencies, as well as improve outcomes for patients across multiple clinical specialties (1,2)

Dentists providing dental sedation may encounter life-threatening emergencies during the course of their professional life. There is good evidence that adverse changes in cardio-respiratory physiology occur quite frequently during procedures performed under sedation, in particular hypoxaemia and myocardial ischaemia (3).

Participants undertook simulation training sessions to practise common medical scenarios in the dental sedation environment. Group debriefing followed each scenario, led by a trained and experienced facilitator. The groups consisted of 8-10 students, with 2 students participating in the scenario and the rest observing. All students reflected on the issues raised

All students completed questionnaires immediately before and after the simulation sessions. Their confidence in managing various medical emergencies was recorded on a visual analogue scale. 

Students were grouped according to previous simulation experience (1^st or 2^nd exposure). Visual analogue scores were converted to a decimal scale (0-10), and the mean score for each scenario calculated. Differences in means for pre-and post-simulation training were evaluated using the Wilcoxon-signed-rank test.