NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 80
Comfortably
NUMB
Austin Stone, a Kansas teenager, suffered
brain damage in an incident involving dental
gases and intravenous sedation drugs.
I
N THE SPRING OF 2009, AUSTIN STONE WAS A HIGH
SCHOOL SENIOR IN TONGANOXIE, KANSAS, A TOWN OF
ABOUT 5,000 PEOPLE NESTLED IN THE NORTHEASTERN
CORNER OF THE STATE. HE WAS AN ATHLETE, A RUNNER,
AND, LIKE MANY TEENS, HE NEEDED TO HAVE HIS WISDOM
TEETH REMOVED. ON MARCH 30, HE WENT TO A DENTAL
OFFICE IN NEARBY
LAWRENCE FOR THE
SURGERY. ¶ A YEAR
LATER, STONE WAS
"LEARNING TO LIVE
AGAIN," AS A LOCAL
NEWSPAPER PUT IT.
AFTER SUFFERING BRAIN DAMAGE DURING THE SURGERY,
THE 19 YEAR OLD WAS LEFT PARTIALLY BLIND, HARD OF
According to articles published by the Lawrence Journal-World, the oral surgeon performing the operation, Dr.
Kirk Vincent, had first tried to sedate Stone with nitrous
oxide, commonly referred to as laughing gas, through a
nasal mask. But there was a problem. The gas lines of
nitrous oxide and oxygen, which is administered along
with nitrous oxide in a 1:2 ratio, were crossed. When Stone
didn't become sedated, since he was inadvertently receiving
more oxygen than nitrous oxide, Vincent administered a
mixture of intravenous drugs that are commonly used to
sedate patients. The drugs worked, and Stone's heart rate
started dropping. Then, Vincent administered what he
believed to be pure oxygen through the mask, which in fact
was pure nitrous oxide. When nitrous oxide is administered
without the proper balance of oxygen, it can cause brain
damage and even death.
80 | NFPA JOURNAL * J A N U A R Y / F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 8
In recent years, sedation has become a more common
aspect of dentistry in general, not just for oral surgeries like
the extraction of wisdom teeth. The rise of sedation dentistry-specifically when it includes deep sedation or general
anesthesia, which render patients close to or entirely unconscious-means dental gas and vacuum systems must be given
the same level of scrutiny that medical gas and vacuum systems are typically given to prevent deaths and injuries.
One of the first steps to achieving this will be building
an understanding among practitioners, authorities having
jurisdiction, and those who sell and install dental gas and
vacuum systems around the high level of sedation that is
occurring within many dental facilities. Also integral to that
effort is a new chapter in the recently released 2018 edition
of NFPA 99, Health Care Facilities Code, titled "Dental Gas
and Vacuum Systems." It's the first time dentistry has been
LAWRENCE WORLD JOURNAL
HEARING, AND WITH LIMITED GROSS MOTOR SKILLS.
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of NFPA Journal - January/February 2018
Contents
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - Cover1
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - Cover2
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 1
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - Contents
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 3
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 4
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 5
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 6
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 7
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 8
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 9
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 10
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 11
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 12
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 13
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 14
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 15
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 16
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 17
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 18
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 19
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 20
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 21
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 22
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 23
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 24
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 25
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 26
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 27
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 28
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 29
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 30
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 31
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 32
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 33
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 34
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 35
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 36
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 37
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 38
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 39
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 40
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 41
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 42
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 43
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 44
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 45
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 46
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 47
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 48
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 49
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 50
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 51
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 52
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 53
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 54
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 55
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 56
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 57
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 58
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 59
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 60
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 61
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 62
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 63
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 64
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 65
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 66
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 67
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 68
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 69
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 70
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 71
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 72
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 73
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 74
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 75
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 76
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 77
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 78
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 79
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 80
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 81
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 82
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 83
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 84
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 85
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 86
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 87
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 88
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - Cover3
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - Cover4
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