Peter F. Mahoney

The 80 rules you need to prepare for action in a medical disaster Here are 80 disaster management rules to reflect on, remember and follow in the immediate aftermath of an incident involving mass casualties. Each rule is a single-page long, providing the essential information to inform the most common critical decisions you will have to make in either a civilian or military environment. Written by clinicians with deep clinical and operational experience, these rules are concise evidence-based guidelines for all medical personnel dealing with disasters at the scene or in hospital. Based on the Major Incident Medical Management and Support system widely adopted in the UK, mainland Europe, Australasia and NATO, they are both authoritative and effective.

The orthopedic ward can be a challenging location for the recently qualified doctor. The demands and responsibilities in preparing patients for elective orthopedic and acute trauma surgery are often very different. The situation is not helped by the impressive comorbidity often seen in orthopedic patients or the increasing tendency for out-of-hours ward cover to be provided by resident doctors working “off their patch.” In this book, the authors have attempted to provide a practical guide to the most common perioperative issues and medical pr- lems found during the day-to-day management of these patients. The model used is based on an earlier “in-house” publication written for the guidance of anesthetic trainees working in a trauma intensive care unit. The authors are all hardened observers of the speed at which today’s recommendations become yesterday’s history and so have made a particular effort to select references that will assist in readers remaining updated.