Product Review

Pocket Emergency Medicine is written as a life raft for medical students, residents and nursing staff caring for patients in the emergency department setting. Chapters are organized around presenting symptom, rather than diagnosis, so that readers can look up information as patients present themselves in the ED and so that students and residents can learn to develop the thought processes that guide diagnostic and therapeutic decisions. Chapters present a wealth of information in a concise format, using bulleted lists and tables to distill key information and therapeutic options. Chapters are templated to include the history, physical examination, testing and therapy. The first section covers 57 chief complaints in alphabetical order; other sections cover trauma, pediatric emergencies, environmental exposures, and airway management. Information is presented in a concise, rapid-access format, with easy-to-scan bulleted lists and tables. Chapters follow a standard structure--DDx, followed by history, classic findings, critical studies, ED interventions, pearls, and references.