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Manual of Emergency Airway Management
Book Reviews Manual of Emergency Airway Management Review by Jerry Balentine, DO DRUGology Review by Bohdan M. Minczak, MD, PhD Copyright © 2001 by the American College of Emergency Physicians. 0196-0644/2001/$35.00 + 0 47/8/111871 doi:10.1067/mem.2001.111871
JANUARY 2001
37:1
Manual of Emergency Airway Management Walls RM (ed) Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2000 240 pages, $39.95 ISBN 0-781-72616-6 The deepest professional fear of every emergency physician is to fail at the “A” in “ABC.” If the airway needs to be established, all other aspects of care become secondary. The Manual of Emergency Airway Management provides “young” emergency physicians with a complete and easily readable review of all aspects of airway management and allows experienced emergency physicians to add to their knowledge and refine their understanding of the topic. The book is a complete review of all aspects of emergency airway management, covering topics from the decision to intubate to the stocking and design of a difficult airway cart. The outline of the text follows the natural progression of airway management, with the first chapter dealing with the decision to intubate, followed by rapid sequence intubation (RSI) techniques and emergency airway algorithms. It includes chapters on special clinical circumstances and a wide variety of airway techniques. The chapter on special devices and techniques for managing the difficult and failed airway reviews the most commonly available airway adjuncts and is followed by a review of fiberoptic techniques. Each chapter ends with a short list of suggested addi-
ANNALS OF EMERGENCY MEDICINE
tional readings, which can range from a chapter in a textbook to original research on the discussed topic. All emergency medicine textbooks include chapters on airway management. The distinct advantage of this manual is the depth with which the issue is explored and the inclusion and reference to some of the data collected in the National Emergency Airway Registry to support the discussion in the individual chapters. Illustrations are clear and of good quality and present when necessary to illustrate the chapter. Chapters that require special mention are the sections on the airway algorithm and on RSI, including a 3-chapter section on pharmacology that provides a complete discussion of muscle relaxants, sedatives and induction agents, and drugs for special circumstances. The chapters review a difficult subject in an easy-to-read fashion that allows the reader to get a complete understanding of the physiologic and pharmacologic concepts involved. I would recommend this manual of airway management to all emergency physicians, from emergency medicine residents during their emergency medicine rotations and in adjunct with their anesthesia rotation, as well as to seasoned emergency physicians who want to continue their education or review an ever-present topic. Jerry Balentine, DO Department of Emergency Medicine St. Barnabas Hospital Bronx, NY
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JANUARY 2001
37:1
Manual of Emergency Airway Management Walls RM (ed) Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2000 240 pages, $39.95 ISBN 0-781-72616-6 The deepest professional fear of every emergency physician is to fail at the “A” in “ABC.” If the airway needs to be established, all other aspects of care become secondary. The Manual of Emergency Airway Management provides “young” emergency physicians with a complete and easily readable review of all aspects of airway management and allows experienced emergency physicians to add to their knowledge and refine their understanding of the topic. The book is a complete review of all aspects of emergency airway management, covering topics from the decision to intubate to the stocking and design of a difficult airway cart. The outline of the text follows the natural progression of airway management, with the first chapter dealing with the decision to intubate, followed by rapid sequence intubation (RSI) techniques and emergency airway algorithms. It includes chapters on special clinical circumstances and a wide variety of airway techniques. The chapter on special devices and techniques for managing the difficult and failed airway reviews the most commonly available airway adjuncts and is followed by a review of fiberoptic techniques. Each chapter ends with a short list of suggested addi-
ANNALS OF EMERGENCY MEDICINE
tional readings, which can range from a chapter in a textbook to original research on the discussed topic. All emergency medicine textbooks include chapters on airway management. The distinct advantage of this manual is the depth with which the issue is explored and the inclusion and reference to some of the data collected in the National Emergency Airway Registry to support the discussion in the individual chapters. Illustrations are clear and of good quality and present when necessary to illustrate the chapter. Chapters that require special mention are the sections on the airway algorithm and on RSI, including a 3-chapter section on pharmacology that provides a complete discussion of muscle relaxants, sedatives and induction agents, and drugs for special circumstances. The chapters review a difficult subject in an easy-to-read fashion that allows the reader to get a complete understanding of the physiologic and pharmacologic concepts involved. I would recommend this manual of airway management to all emergency physicians, from emergency medicine residents during their emergency medicine rotations and in adjunct with their anesthesia rotation, as well as to seasoned emergency physicians who want to continue their education or review an ever-present topic. Jerry Balentine, DO Department of Emergency Medicine St. Barnabas Hospital Bronx, NY
1 2 3