Critical-Care Books

This book encapsulates all the necessary information for clinical practice of anesthesia. It also includes MANY charts and protocols for drugs, malignant hypothermia, ACLS, etc. I can't enter the OR without it.

I have over 15 years of experience as an anesthesiologist at the prestigious Yale-New Haven Hospital in Connecticut. I've seen it all; however, this text challenged me. I highly recommend it, and every practicing MD and CRNA should have a copy to review and use as a teaching tool and guide.

First of all, I must say that this is an excellent book to get detailed information when you are in a bind in the OR. But the problem I have with this book is that it is sort of in a no-man's-land of materials. If I need the nitty-gritty on a subject, I go to Barash or Miller, but in the OR, I only need to get to the stuff I seem to have forgotten, so I go to Ezekiel. Mass General falls somewhere between too much information for the OR, and not enough information for home use. I've also found it rather difficult at times to find things with the small, cramped print. (Not to mention that it doesn't fit as easily as Ezekiel in the back pocket of your scrubs)
Undeniably, this is a good book with a wealth of information, but I don't understand why people rely on it so heavily.

This book seems to be the icon for O.R. pocket references in Anesthesiology.

I carry this book with me to the O.R. almost daily for an available quick-read before an add-on case. The sections are set in a systematic and logical fashion, making review and reference quick. It's seen on almost every resident's anesthesia cart, and then the cover is usually well-worn from frequent use.

A very good book, but not intended for board review.

"Clinical Anesthesia Procedures of the Massuchussets General Hospital" offers concise yet thorough coverage on all aspects of anesthesia. From preoperative visit to basic airway management, from fluid requirements of the surgical patient to specific considerations on cardiac, respiratory and liver diseases, this book has it all in an easily accesible way, especially when your above the "blood-brain barrier". I would especially recomend the chapter on resuscitation of trauma and burns victims, because of the thorough coverage of the subject, better than in many surgical textbooks I have read.

Great Read. I'm just curious as to whether this book is used in highschools? Although fiction, do the majority of non-natives get the stereo-typical impression of natives here?

Beatrice Culleton Mosionier's "In Search of April Raintree" is a masterfully written fiction novel about two Metis sisters seperated from their family and each other at a young age. The novel, although fiction, gives the reader an all too true account of the plight of the native people. The story follows the two sisters' seperate yet intimately connective lives. That's all I choose to say about the story line as the novel works on many levels. It is brilliantly written and intriguing how the characters evolve and influence each other throughout the book. To say any more would be a disservice to the potential reader. ENJOY!

This book is by no means ineffective , but it seems to me that Culleton attempts to evoke emotion in the reader as a literary device, rather than as a logical cathartic response to the novel's events. While April and Cheryl are engaging characters, others seem displaced and unbelievable. The rape scene is disturbingly effective, however, along with a fitting (albeit conventional) ending. This book will probably be appreciated by a teenaged audience, but is certainly not very rewarding for the adult reader (I'm reading it in college)

I am a high school student that just finished reading "In Search of April Raintree" and I must say that it is the one of the best books ever written! It is a story about a Metis girl named April and her sister Cheryl. She was taken away from her parents by social services at a young age. It tells how she struggled from foster home to foster home. Separated from her sister. It gives you a closer look at how foster children grow up and it isn't always pretty! The two girls have totally different values and beliefs but struggle to stay close. I must warn you that this book is pretty graphic, but people should know about what April went through. If you want a good book, read this one. If you can't handle reality then it probably isn't for you.

This story was written and set in my hometown of Winnipeg. I'm writing a review not because I feel the need to examine or analyse, but rather because this book had a major impact on me when I was around 13 and I think its incredible that it has not gained greater recognition/appreciation.

To summarize in brief, this book is a told through the eyes of April, a young Metis girl whose parents are caring but neglectful alcoholics. The story follows April and her sister, Cheryl, as they are taken from their parents and enter the foster care system. Passed from white family to white family, their lives are comfortable at best, hell at the worst; never are they truly at home, rarely do they see their parents. Their experiences differ because they are split up almost immediately. Their difference in experience lead them down divided paths - one of them extremely tragic.

As a teenage white girl, this book shocked and horrified me. Out of all the books I read during that time period, I think this one drew the most empathy and the most lasting reaction. I can still recall the nightmarish rape scene from this book and cringe at the memory. Culleton is an amazing writer. She draws you into the story and the hearts of the characters. Its impossible to put the book down and simply forget about what you've read. I believe Culleton based the book on her own experiences, but I'm not certain. What I do know for a fact is that this book is realistic. I live in this city, I grew up in the neigbourhood written about, and friends of mine work for CFS (Child & Family Services). This book is not an exaggeration and knowing that for a fact when you read it makes for even more of an impact.

The story is dramatic and touching. I reread it a number of times - first the "censored" version and then In Search of April Raintree (uncensored) after my school librarian told me about it. I'm almost tempted to say its not a book for kids, but then I don't think it did me any harm. It woke me up a bit, definitely. I remember sobbing in an armchair after finishing it.

The characters stay with you. Like all well-written books, this one is literally mood-altering. The writing is so well done that you become the main character and feel almost a physical pain over what she endures and suffers. If anything, this book should be read to encourage simple empathy. At best, it could be hoped that it would provide greater understanding and insight into the experiences of many children and over the well... no other word but 'plight' is coming to mind right now, so the 'plight' of many Native/Metis Canadian people.

(I'm sleepy as I write this but I'm hoping my recommendation will hold up. Also, I just checked online and found this: "Although only loosely based on Culleton's own childhood experiences as a foster child, the book is dedicated to her two sisters, who, like Cheryl Raintree, commited suicide as adults.")

~illyria

I am new to Critical Care and wanted a book to help with the new IV drugs I would see especially. This book is a great addition to a general drug book. I includes more IV information than a general drug book. A few of the dosage recommendations are different than what my facility uses which is a little confusing. But overall, I use this book most days!

I use my palm all the time.. I love Epocrates for its ease of use. But for indepth info on drugs we use day and day it..it cannot be beat!!

I really like this guide because it gives you the generic name first. then what it's indications for use are and the expected outcomes or theraputic effects. And in a different colored box it gives you the contraindications and cautions. Basically, right on the first page it gives you the most important facts first and then goes on from there.

I leave my copy in our CCU. It's the best resource we have for IV med compatibilities -- boasting nice long lists for most of our commonly used drips. Solid dosing information, some tables, etc. My favorite for IV meds (ePocrates & Infusicalc/Palm user too).

This is the most used IV drug book on our unit. The drugs are listed alphabetically, therefore easy to find when you are in a hurry. The best feature is the compatability list for each drug. Some titratable meds have easy to read tables, and there are tables of drug effect onset, peak, halflife, etc.

I used the book to help pass an interview and reference other materials versus this read. Very dry read, but found some obscure information I was looking for here. Highly suggest the book for the station, as people seem to pick it up often when subtle disagreements on facts/treatments occur. By the way, it helped me get the job.

I bought this book in prep for the FP-C exam and found it to be very well written. It's not an entertaining book, but if you are looking for cold hard knowledge about flight medicine, this is an excellent book. Since I have read it, many have borrowed it from me and tell me the same. It's bare bones medicine with no fluff. I would not recommend this for anyone who is new to the field.

Excellent book, fast shipping. The progression of the content flows allowing for easy referencing and review, very concise yet in depth explanations. This book is an asset to my library

This is a good book overall, if you can handle what is otherwise a very dry read. There aren't many textbooks for critical care out there like this one and because of that it is an invaluable resource. Nonetheless, it is very hard to read through and could use some spicing up.

Very informative on everything from advanced airway procedures, cardiac care, and transport pharmacology. Excellent section on peds as well.

Simply stated an excellent reference for those in Emergency Medicine.

Out of the many medical, rescue & first-aid books I have in my library, this book is one of the most frequently referred to by myself. The range & quality of photos is astounding. The text is kept brief with usually a few advisory notes as well. Wish all references were this good

great book, using it to review for the boards. the pics of pediatric rashes are particularly helpful. it is a bit lacking on the radiology side of things, and i wish this book had a section on spinal trauma, especially c-spine injuries. (hint, hint, for the next edition) otherwise a great reference to have.

Let's first say that this book is not for the faint of heart. But if you're a medical professional and efeects of trauma and injuries on the human body intrest you , this is an excellent book. Full color graphic pictures of numerous typrs of injuries caused by trauma and various other causes showcase just how frail the human body can be. Seeing injuries in the book prepare you to better recognize them faster in the field and prepare you for the shock of seeing them for the first time in the field. Treating injuries in the field can better be accomplished through fast recognition of a patients treatment needs if you've have never dealt with a type of trauma/injury before and having seen it in the book can help you familiarize yourself beforehand. 4 Stars!

Not bad, but the writing style is somewhat dense, making it difficult to read quickly. After a couple chapters I decided to switch to the ICU book by Marino and was happy I did. If you're a busy resident with limited time to read, go with Marino.

I recently bought this book and it really goes deep into subject - just the way I like it.

This is fairly well organized and thorough despite the small size of the text. You also cannot beat the price.

An excellent discussion of ICU/Critical Care Medicine pathophysiology and management approaches for principally the housestaff/junior fellow level. Chapters are pertinent and understandable. Does a good job of avoiding the tendency toward "cookbook" medicine found in several other CCM texts written at this level. End of chapter summaries are excellent. Focus is on developing understanding of key physiologic/pathophysiologic concepts and how they relate to monitoring, management, etc. rather than focusing on procedures and techniques. Should be the text of choice for medicine critical care rotations early in training as it really develops the appropriate foundation.

only one out there for now and required, but it leaves a lot of gaps, especially in a&p. overall good text, but will not be sufficient by itself if you truly want to understand.

Way cheaper than in a college bookstore, or any bookstore for that matter. My husband was apprehensive about buying a book this way, but he was very pleased.

I have to say Brady Publishing and Dr. Bledsoe has done it again. An excellent textbook covering the topic of Critical Care Paramedicine. My favorite chapter is Altitude Physiology authored by prehospital critical care pioneers Larry Johnson and Bryan Bledsoe. After reading many textbooks on this subject (which pales in comparison) I have found that this particular chapter very complete and comprehensive. I highly recommend this text for any individual who is interested in pursuing a career in prehospital critical care.

This book was recently used as the primary text for my CCEMT-P course. While I believe this is a well written book, I feel it should be more appropriately used as a pre-course introduction to critical care in the pre-hospital and out-of-hospital setting, or as a tool to put nursing critical care textbooks into the EMS perspective. I feel this is a great book for any EMS provider to own and will gladly add it to my library instead of reselling it, I just feel that it poorly meets its intended purpose as a primary text for pre-hospital providers attending a critical care course.

I work in an ICU and kept borrowing one of the other nurse's
copies until finally I purchased one for myself. Soon after,
the others were borrowing my copy. Now at work several of us
have a copy on us at all times and find it extremely useful.

I'm an active duty Navy nurse and was deployed to Iraq for 7 months. I carried this little pocket reference in my cargo pocket or flight suit all the time. I wish it had a little more information on RSI (particularly with head/neuro patients), a good neuro assessment, maintaining sedation/paralytics, ventilatory support - but I supplemented that with a quick reference I typed up and taped into the pocket guide. I left the copy I had in Iraq with the flight medic and just ordered 2 of the newest edition and I'm sending one of those back to Iraq. My plastic binding didn't break - and mine is very well used after being in my pocket for 7 months straight. And the sheets wear very well - they didn't tear and they don't melt when they get wet and blood comes off easily without ruining your reference.

This book is great and convinent...but often lacking. The design is great, I love the fact that you can open it up and measure a child with it, turn to the peds section and basically use it as a Brosleow tape. However, the plastic wire binding sucks and quickly starts to break. The 1700-drug quick look up is very useful, but half of the time the drug that I am trying to look up is not in there. Several non-standard aberveations are used in the text, but are not defined in the book at all--what is IHSS? Some drug information is incorrect--doesn't the AHA recommend lidocaine every 5-10 minutes in a code, not every 3-5 as this book recommends? The paramedic version is similar, but has a few items in it that are very different and very useful that I would like to see in the nursing version--a quick RSI guide and such. It would be nice if the emergency meds section included common incompatibilites. Overall, a good, useful book that I have carried around at work for the past 4 years (going through about 6-8 copies as the plastic binding breaks).

I think this book is much better than another reviewer cites. I've been using Informed books for at least a decade and they are invaluable training/study aids as well as good quick references during actual emergency calls. I've never had the spiral binding break on any of my books, and they are well traveled. As for drug dosing, the recent editions (2nd and 3rd) have the correct lido doses. The 1st edition was also correct in its time, but recommendations change. This is a good reason to upgrade to the current version at every new release, just as you should do with any medical reference book. And IHSS (though I don't recall seeing it used in this book) is a standard abbreviation for Idiopathic Hypertrophic Sub-aortic Stenosis. If you don't know what that is, I would recommend the EMS Field Guide in either BLS or ALS versions instead of the Emergency & Cardiac Care edition. No matter what your emergency services profession is (EMS, fire, rescue, police), they have a version of these guides that is a great tool to have.

Wonderful, very simple and ICU focused. The only thing unpleasant is that size of the letters is too small for reading.

I didn't give it five stars cuz i used the book for a really short time and i borrowed it from jefferson's library (no, i wasn't a student there, i just had access to the library cuz i externed).
i used this to supplement my critical care course cuz my instructor didn't teach/didn't know how to teach. Also, i was working full time in school and didn't have time for the textbook. This book had all the important points. i looked through it during lectures and it had everything the instructor lectured on and more. I compared it to mosby's and i think this is better than mosby. if you don't have money to buy the textbook and can get your hand on this book, i say get it. It's easy to read, well laid out and an awesome resource. i found it very helpful for that 8week intense course.

i know swearingen author's that medsurg manual, i didn't know she did the one for critical care till i came across this book at the library. IMHO, if you want to get a little manual for critical care, get this.
The only think i didn't like about it is that i wish it was more compact like the mosbys, you really can't fit this into your pocket or labcoat. if you're looking for something that's very small in size, this isn't it. But if you're looking for something good on content that will help you pass the class, then this is it.

Looking for a great book for nursing school this on is it and quick and to the point

I found this manual to be very useful in day to day clinical applications. The manual is clearly organized according to systems, methodology, signs and symptoms, assessments and plan of care from a medical-sugical patient, to a cardiology patient to the trauma patient. In the ever changing clinical setting and the large variety of etiologies, this manual can be a valuable tool.

Very succinct and easy to read. Is a smaller version of Irwin's critical care book. Much better than the Washington Manual for Critical Care.

Great handbook to carry around the Unit during rotations. I use Marino for home study and this for slow times on the Wards. It's pretty dense but has all the important information from the huge textbook by the same author.

Recommendation : Excellent book & if I lost it, would buy it again.

Pros :
* Practical book with useful tables. Clearly written & organized.
* Unlike most "pocket books", not excessively concise.
* Selected readings with descriptive comments of each at the end of the chapter (including "classic" articles).

Cons :
* outdated & overdue for new edition (this is the 3rd edn, published in 2000)
* competing with easily accessible up-to-date reviews & guidelines available over the internet

Usefulness : concise overview of a topic that can be read in minutes prior to consulting on patients in casualty/wards.

Suggested Improvements : internet-based rather than paper-based, with links to selected readings, & frequently updated.

Alternatives : I don't own any other ICU pocket books as I've been very happy with this one (& generally dislike "pocket" books anyway)

About myself : Registrar in Intensive Care & Anaesthesia with 3 1/2 years experience (12 months Intensive Care, 2 1/2 years Anaesthesia). Graduated 6 and 1/2 years ago MB,BS University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia. I own the larger 2 volume set by Irwin & Rippe also. I have owned both the pocket book & the reference books for 3 or 4 years.

Several changes from the previous edition not mentioned in the product info include :

A. Overdoses and poisonings has been separated and placed in a separate pocket manual - although it still retains several chapters on common OD's. I would have preferred the editors remove all chapters except the "general considerations" chapter and refer readers to the sister manual. The sister manual is excellent but i would like to see expanded coverage. Also the units are non-SI (eg iron levels) and BUN rather than urea etc. The envenomations section is unhelpful for Australian readers.

B. The prose style of the previous edition has been replaced by point-form.

C. Resuscitation guidelines are outdated - still refering to the 2000 guidlines.

D. Procedures/techniques section still has little on non-invasive cardiac monitoring eg pulse contour analysis techniques

E. Coagulation chapter could be updated regarding tissue factor pathway - this is dealt with better in Barash/Cullen/Stoelting.

Remains a good ICU pocket book & worth the updated edition.