Cardiopulmonary-Resuscitation Books

Most of us have taken ACLS by the time we get to 3rd/4th year rotations and end up in the ER. Most of us aren't comfortable participating in a code at the beginning of the ER rotation. This book takes ACLS and runs with it, but slowly! It provides you with a great EKG review while addressing medications needed to treat each condition in a clear and concise manner. It provides essential information on how to recognize and manage non-cardiac codes such as airway emergencies, seizures, etc. You will be much more comfortable in a code setting after reading this book! Check out the other books in the Emergency Management series - they are pretty good as well.

This book revolutionized the way I think about ACLS. I was stunned by how easy things are to understand when laid out in a straightforward, evidence-based manner. I used to walk very slowly to codes in fear that I would be the first one there. I was ashamed that I didn't know how to manage coding patients. Since reading this book, I have been able to sprint full-force knowing that I am well-equpped to handle any situation.

Excellent book very important for specialists like cardiologists and general practice physicians too. It's a "must to have"kind of book.

Reading this book 13 years after the third edition I am still struck as I was when I first read it by the sheer erudition of it's authors. The book details almost everything one could possibly want to know about the performance of cardiopulmonary resuscitation. In addition it justifies all its statements with evidence citing 1,000 references. The book is not for the lay reader taking 464 pages to cover the subject, but is intended for the professional who wishes to add understanding to their practice. Other books have come since this one, and may reflect slightly newer learning but this book set and still sets the standard to which they must aspire.

I purchased this pocket guide as it is a required book for EMSTI Paramedic School Jan. 2007 class. This book was released in 2005 but it is only updated once every 5 years so it is still good. Great book, have the info you need for the drugs required for class.

I bought this handbook along with my materials for ACLS, and have found this an invaluable reference for AHA ACLS and ECC. The complete algorithms are included, and the pre-hospital and in-hospital care sections clear and easy to locate. The drug references are useful for remembering ACLS/ECC drugs, but I wouldn't use them as a primary reference tool for the drugs involved overall. All in all an excellent and definitive reference fro ACLS providers and ECC.

This Handbook contains in synopsis form most of the information included in the basic ACLS course, including all of the main algorithms. Also, it includes the BLS algorithm and short sections in the back that include PALS and Neonatal Resuscitation info. Of note, the algorithms included for the ACLS and BLS are the newly revised AHA versions (the ones that went into effect on July 1, 2006), so you don't have to worry about wasting your money purchasing a book with out-of-date algothims and information. (Like the current edition of the ACLS provider's manual that's still on sale through Amazon.) The spiral-bound format of this book isn't quite as white coat pocket-friendly as the cards that come with the ACLS provider manual but, as I mentioned there's more information in this than is put on the cards and, at least as of when I'm writing this, they don't have up to date cards for sale yet.

I found this book hard to follow and nothing is tabbed for easy access in an emergent situation which is what it is supposed to do. If you prepare for ACLS by reading the book that is given with the class you will find that is all you need. If you want a refresher for ekg rhythm strips or a tabbed book look for davis notes for ecg.

As the other reviewers here have been quick to point out, this book is a gallimaufry of narrative strands taken from history, folklore, literature and imagination. But, someone will ask, "What is Fishing For Amber all about anyway?" - If forced to be reductionist about it, I suppose the one word that comes to mind is "Associations." In a sense, the interweaving narratives and histories mimic the human mind's tangential nature. Save that, rather than tangents, the associations' points de depart into another history or narrative are circuitous and eventually land one back at another point in the history of, say, amber.

All this makes for interesting, fascinating, enjoyable reading. So why am I, unlike the other reviewers, giving the book only four stars rather than the superlative five? Because methinks that this book, this woof of nested narratives, covering Proust, Vermeer, much Irish folklore, Greek and Roman mythology, a history of submarines, a (true) account of an actual language based on the diatonic scale, hagiography, ergotism and much, much more is a wee bit too clever by half to be a truly profound read. It takes on more than 350 pages can handle, as is evident in the eight page bibliography of 107 sources.

But it's fun, and you will certainly learn much between the covers of this book. I surely did. So, go ahead, drop your nets into these waters. Just beware that what you pull up will certainly be strange without necessarily being rich. You'll have to cast deeper into some of the books in the bibliography for that.

This is an amazing book - a mixture of Fables, Folk Tales, Greek Myths, Dutch history, and Lives of Saints.
26 chapters, one for each letter of the Alphabet, "Antipodes" to "Zoetrope".
There are so many stories here, going off on so many seeming tangents, that you can hardly believe it will hold together, but it does so brilliantly

"Fishing for Amber" is one of those enchanting books one secretly hopes to acquire every time one purchases a book. It is a treasure-box filled with wonders, each more delightful than the last. Part James Burke's Connections, part Umberto Eco, part Chet Raymo and all delightful, the book is a melding of poetry, fact, and all the stops between. The text meanders through ancient mythologies of the Greek Gods and their progeny, ghastly Irish yarns of bizarre encounters with the Fae, baroque histories from when the Netherlands were the cultural and intellectual center of Europe, and reflections on the author's own father, an Irish storyteller himself. Magical and haunting, it is a wild ride on horseback at midnight not to be missed.

I belong to Company 15, New Market Firefighters. This book is used in training for all of our members. I am an EMT in training and this book is very handy for myself and anyone interested in the well being of people around them.

This booklet was great. I taught a small refresher course in CPR/PR and used it. The information is presented in a very easy to understand format and the review questions at the end of the chapters are wonderful.

This is a good introductory text to paediatric emergency medicine. It has a very practical approach to assessing problems.The book does not cover paediatric basic or advanced life support.However, it has good coverage of other paediatric presentations.

This is in an easier to understand format than the books put out by the AHA.....and it covers way more topics-a good study guide!

It was a waste of money. I went to the AHA site and was directed to the correct book.

the book has most of the information needed. would appreciate if more tables were included

As a Registered Respiratory Therapist, I took PALS last year and was very impressed with a different PALS book used by the hospital. I was hoping that this PALS book by Barbara Achlert would contain similar information. But this book contains very little information and does not even cover the basics like toxicology (a major cause childhood ER visits) and cold-water-near-drownings. And the information that this book does provide is extremely sketchy with many important factors missing that are a vital part of the picture. I can only recommend this book to people who are not health care workers and who want to know little more than the basic CPR, and even in that situation, it would be a very weak recommendation. My final word is don't waste your money on this "Study Guide".

More critical reviews of this "study guide" seem to miss the point. This is *not* an in-depth study of pediatric emergency medicine. That is not what PALS is even intended to be, in the first place. PALS (and, by extension, this book) necessarilly is narrow in focus. (The cynical joke among prehospital responders is that PALS is a 16 hour course in "airway-fluid-airway-fluid-airway-fluid", and if you need to go to the drug box you've got real trouble.) Detailed exposition of drownings/toxicology (as they relate to PALS) can be found in the Pediatric Advanced Life Support textbook which the American Heart Association publishes. That is, after all, the source from which *this* book is distilled. That is all this book is intended to be: a quick review. (Earlier editions of Ms. Aehlert's books actually had "Quick Review" in the title; why they no longer do is not clear to me.) Wider-ranging discussions about emergency care for little tikes should be sought elsewhere.

I strongly disagree with one reviewer's recommendation that this book be read by non-healthcare workers seeking to know a little more than basic CPR. Please understand: this is most decidedly *not* a guide for laypeople. From a practical standpoint, what use a layperson would have for knowledge of advanced pediatric airway control, intravenous cannulation, EKG interpretation, and cardiac drug dosage recommendations is beyond me. Better to not let such esoterica rent space in your brain if you aren't certified/equipped to deploy it when called upon. On the other hand, if you're really *that* interested that you'd read it out of mere curiousity, by all means, knock yourself out. But you'd probably *still* be better served, in that case, by checking out the actual PALS text.

However, if you *are* a healthcare worker who has taken a PALS course before, understands that the AHA PALS textbook is where you go when you want the down-and-dirty details, but would like to cut through to the must-know nitty-gritty because your certification is up for renewal and you need to pass the test again: this is the book for you.