Authors: Steven G. Rothrock
ISBN-13: 9780763765880, ISBN-10: 0763765880
Format: Paperback
Publisher: Jones & Barlett Learning
Date Published: July 2008
Edition: 4th Edition
Rothrock, Steven G., MD; Green, Steven M., MD
The Tarascon Adult Emergency Pocketbook, Fourth Edition is designed as the ultimate portable reference for the busy emergency physician or internist. This concise, organized pocket guide is packed with essential lists, figures, & tables providing instant reminders of hard-to-remember yet vitally important clinical information. The Tarascon Adult Emergency Pocketbook, Fourth Edition is meticulously referenced and provides expert commentary on current academic controversies within the field. Convenient reference sections include dysrhythmia protocols, emergency drug infusions, antibiotic therapy, rapid-sequence intubation, toxicology, trauma care, burn care, and much more.
Reviewer: Laura Joy Hurst, MD (University of Chicago)
Description: This book, designed as a pocket resource for those practicing emergency medicine, is a compilation of those easily forgotten facts, tables, calculations, medication doses, etc.
Purpose: The authors outline the purpose as "a quick, convenient reminder of information you have already learned elsewhere." It basically takes all those rulers with tables on them, the little cheat sheets of data and flow sheets I have floating around in my pockets, and puts them in a tiny book format. In this way the objectives are met.
Audience: The author doesn't state who the book is written for, but implies that it is best used by someone who has been exposed to this information at some point in their education. While I do think it would be useful for students rotating through the ER, I think it is more for practitioners and most ideal for those just starting in the field having to look up and be reminded of the doses or logarithms of commonly encountered situations.
Features: The book covers most of the commonly encountered as well as commonly tested (and forgotten) topics in emergency medicine, including ACLS, trauma protocol, infectious disease etiology, and appropriate drug therapy, toxidromes and antidotes, electrolyte disorders, neurologic presentations, ophthalmology emergencies, and so on. It's full of tables covering epidemiology (i.e., most common cause of fever), clinical presentations that highlight distinguishing features (i.e., CSF analysis, LFT abnormalities in various liver diseases), as well as treatment options and management guidelines. It is tiny yet readable, making it easy to keep in a coat pocket or bag, and is organized in a fairly user-friendly format. Although much of the information is extremely practical, I think some of the tables, research references, and information is excessive and not necessary.
Assessment: In an age where palm pilots and PCs are so readily available, most of the information in this book can easily be found with a few clicks of a button. That being said, I did put aside my palm and avoided the computer for a week and used this book as my only reference and 90 percent of the time I found the information that I needed just as quickly while also stumbling across some other useful tidbits during the search.
Notices 2
Advanced Cardiac Care 3
Acid Base Disorders 6
Anaphylaxis 6
Anesthesia & Airway 8
Biologic, Chemical, Radiation 10
Burns 15
Cardiovascular Disorders 16
Electrolytes 48
Endocrinology 54
Environmental Disorders 60
Gastroenterology, GI bleeding 68
Hematology & Oncology 70
Hypertension 77
Immunizations & Exposures 80
Infectious Disease 83
Neurology 117
Obstetrics & Gynecology 130
Ophthalmology 135
Orthopedics (non-trauma) 138
Psychiatry 140
Radiology 142
Respiratory 147
Seizures & Status Epileptics 158
Surgical Abdomen 159
Toxicology 162
Trauma 184
Wound Dressings, Urology 195
Index 197
Emergency Drugs & Infusions 222
Ordering Information 223