The Little Book of Big Medical Emergencies

Reviews - Books
The Little Book of Big Medical Emergencies - Review
By Cynthia Kirkeby
Aug 15, 2007, 20:16 PST

The Little Book of Big Medical Emergencies is a helpful guide to keep around the house. Written by Stuart Fischer, MD. this guide leads you through some of the more common household emergencies and how to deal with them. The information in the books seems reasonably sound, although "call 911 immediately" seems to be the most common notation throughout the book.

One of the drawbacks of the book, is that you basically have to know what the person has wrong in order to look up the treatment. There's no triage section of the book, that would help you diagnose something, and there aren't any illustrations to help lead you through the steps needed to angtreat the conditions listed. Even with this drawbacks, this "Little Book of Big Emergencies" is still a helpful book to read. Reading through the book, I found that I was getting a good first aid review. The steps listed are short and simple enough for most people to follow. Here is an example:

In Case of a Nose Bleed

CALL 911: If the bleeding is from both nostrils or they feel bleeding down the back to the throat.
KEEP SEATED: Get a chair and have the patient keep their head forward and facing downward.
ICE: When the bleeding is from the front of the nose, apply cold compresses such as ice packs across the bridge of the nose covering both sides.
NO BLOWING: Do not let nosebleed patients blow their noses. They could dislodge clots patching leaking vessels.
NO LYING DOWN: Do not let a nosebleed patient lie on his/her back since he/she could choke on blood.

I would love to see someone reissue this books with some simple black and white illustrations, but until that time it can still find a place on your bookcase as a helpful first aid book to keep around the house.