ABCDs of Emergency Medicine
Preface
The first edition of ABCDs was written in response to requests from medical and nursing staff for an easily readable, concise and practically based textbook on emergency medical practice. Many of the standard texts at the time were perceived as either too long and detailed or written in a format ideal for use as a reference but which made them difficult to read.
The aim was to produce a text that could easily be carried around with chapters that could be comfortably read in the time it took to “drink a cup of coffee”. The book is an attempt to sift through the extensive body of emergency care knowledge with the aim of providing clinicians with the core concepts and foundations for managing a wide range of emergency presentations in a variety of clinical settings.
In recent years there has been a significant advances in many areas of Emergency Medicine, most notably in the areas of procedural sedation, non-invasive ventilation (CPAP/BiPAP), advanced cardiac life support and management of acute coronary syndrome. National (and international) guidelines based on extensive reviews of the literature have been published with the aim of increasing the evidence based approach to many of the clinical problems faced in acute care. These have proved invaluable during the revision of the latest edition of the ABCDs of Emergency Medicine. There remain however, many areas of Emergency Medicine where a deficiency in research allows a range of alternative approaches to diagnosis and management. To ensure the text remains concise and provides a practical beside tool for clinicians I have been forced on occasions to choose a specific approach after careful consideration of the range of alternatives. A peer review process has greatly assisted in this task.
To date this has been the most exhaustive revision undertaken of the ABCDs of Emergency Medicine. All the chapters have been extensively revised, several have been rewritten and new chapters have been included on non-invasive ventilation, mechanical ventilation, procedural sedation, assessment / management of the febrile child, mental health primary survey, assessment of the patient with collapse and management of fractures.
In addition twenty three single page summaries on a range of major topics termed “clinical guidelines” have been included. Some are drawn from recognised guidelines whilst others have been developed specifically for the book drawing on current research and undergoing peer review. They are intended to provide a clinical tool to assist clinicians in “thinking through” and managing a specific clinical problem. At the end of the book a glossary of abbreviations, guide to further reading, bibliography and an index have been added.
I would like to thank the nursing, medical and clerical staff at Lyell McEwin and Modbury Hospitals who have assisted me over the past 10 years with the ABCDs of Emergency Medicine. Their encouragement and support have been crucial to the book’s success. My hope is that the book will foster a deeper understanding of emergency care among health professionals and assist them with their work with the acutely ill or injured.
Peter Stuart