- Email: [email protected]
Basic medicine for emergency personnel
The Journal
of Emergency
Medione,
Vol. 7, pp 91-93,
Pnnted In the USA
1989
CopyrIght
0 1989 Pergamon
Press plc
ency care or prehospital management. In other words, the beginner EMT who reads this book will have some difficulty in answering the question: What can I do in the field to treat this disease? The exceptions to this are chapters on unconsciousness, fractures, and injuries to the head and face, where adequate emergency treatment is described. The chapter on cardiopulmonary resuscitation describes pre-1985 guidelines (eg, chest compressions at 60 bpm), and goes into some detail on other CPR techniques that are not part of modern CPR in the US, such as the Holger-Nielsen technique, the Sylvester-Brosche technique, and oxygen-powered resuscitators via face mask. The book’s final chapter is an insightful look at “patient handling.” It describes why and how a prehospital care provider should protect himself while lifting and transporting patients. A number of lift techniques are discussed and illustrated. This is the only chapter in the book that goes into sufficient depth. It gives the prehospital care provider a comprehensive, organized approach to immobilizing, transferring, and transporting a patient. This book cannot be highly recommended for use by the beginning EMT in the US or UK. It lacks the depth to be used as a text on basic medicine for prehospital care providers, and it is not well organized for use as a handbook or field book for EMTs. For US EMTs it is not only a poor selection as a training reference, but if followed, could lead to some serious departures from our standard of care. US EMTs may find the book most useful for finding out how EMS functions across the Atlantic, after they have mastered the US system. The book’s strong points are its ability to convey complicated medical information in a concise, simple manner, and its chapter on patient handling and transport.
Cl BASIC MEDICINE FOR EMERGENCY PERSONNEL. By R Evans and P Durston. 236 pp. London, Butterworth Publ, 1985, $21.95. This book was written in the United Kingdom as an introduction to basic medicine and emergency diagnosis and treatment for paramedical personnel. Before discussing its merits and shortcomings, it is important to recognize that differences exist between prehospital care in the United States and in the United Kingdom. In general, emergency personnel in the UK are not trained in establishing intravenous (IV) access, in advanced airway management, or in administration of medications. The orientation of the book, by US standards, would be most suited to the emergency medical technician (EMT-A), but not the paramedic (EMT-P). There is a major problem in using this book as an introductory source of medical knowledge for the US EMT-A. Someone who does not yet know the US system could learn some information and techniques from this book that deviate considerably from basic prehospital care standards in the US. Overall, the book is quickly and easily read, and well illustrated, but it seems to lack an organized pattern. For example, a chapter on “Major Incidents,” that describes disaster and hazardous materials management, is sandwiched between chapters on infectious diseases and emergency childbirth. Fractures are dealt with separately from a chapter on the musculoskeletal system. A student might find this lack of continuity confusing. The text has an initial general chapter on diagnosis and treatment followed by 22 short chapters that describe organ systems or disease states. These chapters present anatomic and physiologic information in an elementary fashion with good analogies and examples. The description of blood flow through the heart and lungs is especially well done. In some areas there is exaggerated simplicity. For example, the mechanism of respiration is described as a simple bellows action of the diaphragm and rib cage, with no mention of pressure and volume relationships. Interlaced with descriptions of diseases are common medical treatments. There is no special priority given to emerw =
l
Brim J. Zink, MD University of Cincinnati 0 STRATEGY IN HEAD INJURY MANAGEMENT. By Richard H. Simon and James T. Sayre. 214 pp. Norwalk CT, Appleton and Lange, 1987, $34.95.
Book Reviews, which keeps readers informed of important publications in the emergency medicine field, is coordinated by Edward J. Otten, MD, Associate Professor and Director of Prehospital Care, Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine.
0736-4679/89 $3.00 + .OO 91
of Emergency
Medione,
Vol. 7, pp 91-93,
Pnnted In the USA
1989
CopyrIght
0 1989 Pergamon
Press plc
ency care or prehospital management. In other words, the beginner EMT who reads this book will have some difficulty in answering the question: What can I do in the field to treat this disease? The exceptions to this are chapters on unconsciousness, fractures, and injuries to the head and face, where adequate emergency treatment is described. The chapter on cardiopulmonary resuscitation describes pre-1985 guidelines (eg, chest compressions at 60 bpm), and goes into some detail on other CPR techniques that are not part of modern CPR in the US, such as the Holger-Nielsen technique, the Sylvester-Brosche technique, and oxygen-powered resuscitators via face mask. The book’s final chapter is an insightful look at “patient handling.” It describes why and how a prehospital care provider should protect himself while lifting and transporting patients. A number of lift techniques are discussed and illustrated. This is the only chapter in the book that goes into sufficient depth. It gives the prehospital care provider a comprehensive, organized approach to immobilizing, transferring, and transporting a patient. This book cannot be highly recommended for use by the beginning EMT in the US or UK. It lacks the depth to be used as a text on basic medicine for prehospital care providers, and it is not well organized for use as a handbook or field book for EMTs. For US EMTs it is not only a poor selection as a training reference, but if followed, could lead to some serious departures from our standard of care. US EMTs may find the book most useful for finding out how EMS functions across the Atlantic, after they have mastered the US system. The book’s strong points are its ability to convey complicated medical information in a concise, simple manner, and its chapter on patient handling and transport.
Cl BASIC MEDICINE FOR EMERGENCY PERSONNEL. By R Evans and P Durston. 236 pp. London, Butterworth Publ, 1985, $21.95. This book was written in the United Kingdom as an introduction to basic medicine and emergency diagnosis and treatment for paramedical personnel. Before discussing its merits and shortcomings, it is important to recognize that differences exist between prehospital care in the United States and in the United Kingdom. In general, emergency personnel in the UK are not trained in establishing intravenous (IV) access, in advanced airway management, or in administration of medications. The orientation of the book, by US standards, would be most suited to the emergency medical technician (EMT-A), but not the paramedic (EMT-P). There is a major problem in using this book as an introductory source of medical knowledge for the US EMT-A. Someone who does not yet know the US system could learn some information and techniques from this book that deviate considerably from basic prehospital care standards in the US. Overall, the book is quickly and easily read, and well illustrated, but it seems to lack an organized pattern. For example, a chapter on “Major Incidents,” that describes disaster and hazardous materials management, is sandwiched between chapters on infectious diseases and emergency childbirth. Fractures are dealt with separately from a chapter on the musculoskeletal system. A student might find this lack of continuity confusing. The text has an initial general chapter on diagnosis and treatment followed by 22 short chapters that describe organ systems or disease states. These chapters present anatomic and physiologic information in an elementary fashion with good analogies and examples. The description of blood flow through the heart and lungs is especially well done. In some areas there is exaggerated simplicity. For example, the mechanism of respiration is described as a simple bellows action of the diaphragm and rib cage, with no mention of pressure and volume relationships. Interlaced with descriptions of diseases are common medical treatments. There is no special priority given to emerw =
l
Brim J. Zink, MD University of Cincinnati 0 STRATEGY IN HEAD INJURY MANAGEMENT. By Richard H. Simon and James T. Sayre. 214 pp. Norwalk CT, Appleton and Lange, 1987, $34.95.
Book Reviews, which keeps readers informed of important publications in the emergency medicine field, is coordinated by Edward J. Otten, MD, Associate Professor and Director of Prehospital Care, Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine.
0736-4679/89 $3.00 + .OO 91