Oxford American Handbook of Critical Care PDA

Abstract

Oxford American Handbook of Critical Care PDA . By Kellum, John A., Gunn, Scott R., Singer, Mervyn, Webb, Andrew . New York : Oxford University Press , 2008 ; $49.95 (CD for PDA installation [Palm or Windows Mobile platforms] ). Oxford American Handbook of Critical Care PDA (personal digital assistant) is a digital version of the American issue of the Oxford Handbook of Critical Care. This item comes with a computer installation CD and is suited for either the Palm or Windows Mobile operating platforms. System requirements include either Palm OS version 5.0 or later or Windows Mobile version 2003 or later, with a touch screen. The program requires at least 9 megabytes of available memory to install. Installation is fairly straightforward and allows quick access to the product. The program is divided into initial chapters on techniques for respiratory therapy, cardiovascular therapy, renal therapy, and gastrointestinal therapy. Sections on nutrition issues and special support surfaces follow. Next are chapters covering monitoring of cardiovascular, neurologic, laboratory, and miscellaneous areas. A brief section on fluids follows, with the next several sections providing an overview of drugs used for respiratory, cardiovascular, renal, gastrointestinal, neurologic, hematologic, and miscellaneous conditions. Clinical condition chapters are next with coverage of resuscitation, then respiratory, cardiovascular, renal, gastrointestinal, hepatic, neurologic, hematologic, and metabolic disorders. Chapters then address poisoning, infection and inflammation, trauma and burns, physical disorders, pain and postoperative intensive care, and obstetric emergencies. The penultimate section covers death and the dying patient, with the final chapter covering intensive care unit organization and management. Authors from the University of Pittsburgh are paired with United Kingdom authors to give the text a universal appeal. This PDA product is a nice offering and covers a wide range of issues in intensive care medicine. The PDA interface (I used the Palm-based version) is smooth and easy to navigate. The chapters are organized in a user-friendly manner, and there are links to related material for topics covered elsewhere in the text. Forward and back arrows, coupled with a “home” button and a search function, make moving about the program quite simple. The font is easy to read, and the sections for each link are relatively short. This may lead to one minor criticism—some of the links and sections provide only a small amount of text on a given topic. This seems to be a function of the authors’ goal of providing a brief, useable handbook, as well as the streamlined PDA interface. Overall, this is a minor issue, and the technical aspects of this product are solid and allow rapid reference when information is needed. The clinical sections provide excellent information in a straightforward manner. Some chapters feature links and references for “key paper(s).” These feature landmark or important papers highlighting that chapter’s contents. This is in contrast to a format with full references accompanying each section. Hence, this is a potential criticism, but the text information appears up to date and well researched. Occasional tables for drug doses and other items work well in the PDA format, and the zoom process for certain tables is integrated seamlessly within the program. The monitoring sections even feature some guidance for line placement and other procedures, although without diagrams/photos. I used this product during several clinical shifts and found that searching for relevant information was quite easy. One downside may be the relatively short sections of information within each link. Because of this, the main value of this reference may be for general knowledge and management principles, instead of specific treatment regimens. This fits the purpose of this program, and I believe that with the comprehensive coverage and easy maneuverability, the authors have met their goals. Overall, Oxford American Handbook of Critical Care PDA is a very useful program with much relevance for emergency physicians and other emergency medicine and critical care practitioners. I believe that this program will meet the needs of a broad audience. From a knowledge standpoint, the included information is most applicable to residents, medical students, and other trainees, and this is in line with the handbook format for this product. Packaging useable information and an easy-to-navigate format makes this a highly functional product, which should find its way onto the PDAs of a wide variety of emergency care providers. Congratulations to the authors and publishers for a job well done!