Medic!

April 29, 2007 10:35 AM

What's the best handbook to help someone do first aid and emergency medicine in remote locations?

Say I'm in a place where professional medical help is not near, and I have Basic EMT skills. What is the best book out there that will help a person diagnose and treat simple health-related problems? I mean with pictures, etc.

posted by atchafalaya to health & fitness (6 comments total)

The googleable words for this are "wilderness medicine" or "backcountry first aid" and differs from regular old first aid in that you sometimes have to make triage sorts of decisions assuming that you won't get to medical care soonish [for instance CPR is not as useful if there isn't help on the way]. NOLS teaches classes on it and they have a short booklist on their site. The one that I am most familiar with is the Backcountry First Aid and Extended Care book now in its fifth printing. Where There is No Doctor (also available for dentistry) is also good and doesn't have the same emphasis on hiking and recreation-activity based first aid.
posted by jessamyn at 10:53 AM on April 29, 2007

I would say it depends on how much you want to do, and how far is the nearest medical facility. You'll probably get a lot of recommendations for Auerbach's Wilderness Medicine but definitely check out Where There Is No Doctor which was the bible of village health care work when I was doing it in the early 90's. But that is very basic and assumes you are taking on the role of primary health care provider for a community where there are no medical resources, not specifically emergency medicine.

On preview, jessamyn beat me to it.
posted by Slarty Bartfast at 11:04 AM on April 29, 2007

Another term to look for is "Wilderness First Responder"
posted by misterbrandt at 12:05 PM on April 29, 2007

Online version of Where There Is No Doctor.
posted by yohko at 12:33 PM on April 29, 2007 [3 favorites]

Medicine for Mountaineering by Wilkerson is a classic for climbers. It has helpful advice such as why it might not be such a good idea to push your intestines back in if you've been eviscerated and about digital removal of impacted stools. Great reading.
posted by JackFlash at 1:13 PM on April 29, 2007

Seconding Medicine for Mountaineering.
posted by Kikkoman at 11:01 PM on April 29, 2007