Book Review: Handbook of First Aid and Emergency Care

RealisticPreparedness.com Book Review

Handbook of First Aid and Emergency Care

by: American Medical Association

Summary:

The American Medical Association Handbook of First Aid and Emergency Care is a well thought out, basic guide of first aid and an alphabetical reference for a wide variety of common medical conditions.

Sources:

The information in this book comes from over a dozen doctors who are editors and contributing authors.

Depth:

For what it is designed to do, AMA Handbook goes into a fair amount of detail and includes some simple diagrams. The first fifty pages cover basic first aid, such as how to make splints, check breathing and stop bleeding. The bulk of the text is the reference guide, which is well organized, usually with “symptoms” and “what to do” sections for the conditions listed. There are three hundred pages of conditions listed, so most common issues should be covered. Twenty five pages at the back of the book also go over the very basics of getting ready for disaster situations.

Overall:

  The best part of this book is the three hundred pages of reference for everything from fishhook injuries, to hallucinogen use, to gluing your eyelids open. It is an excellent “what would the doctor say to do” reference for all kinds of medical issues that you or your children might encounter at some point. This would be a good text to keep around as a reference for all of the odd and scary medical issues that pop up during life.

  The first aid information in the front of this book should be a review for anyone who has taken a decent first aid class recently. Also, many of the medical conditions are resolved under “what to do” by taking the person to the doctor or emergency room. During many disasters, this is not always an option.