Special Operations Forces Medical Handbook Paperback – June 1, 2001

I can't express how much information is crammed into this book! It is by far the most detailed and diverse medical guide I have found so far. Being that this is designed for tactical situations and for Military/Government, there are no annoying "Seek medical attention immediately" or "Call 911" references after each section. It is more for the Docs and battlefield or deployment situations. On this note, it is designed for people with medical experience, or at least knowledge in medical terms. No worries there, as there is a very large list of abbreviations in the back... but it can be a pretty technical read. Here are the things I like most about this handbook:. Very detailed index of terms.. Trade names of generic drugs.. SOF Medical Handbook Abbreviations.. Physical/Mental Conditions.Now there aren't many diagrams or pictures, BUT the ones that are in there are VERY helpful. This book wasn't necessarily designed to be a pictorial demonstration of how to perform medical procedures. The print is kind of small, so I wouldn't use this as a field guide.. but more of a reference to sit and study to assist in diagnosis. When I say that this book is jam packed with information, its JAM PACKED! Of course there are plenty of blank pages at the end to make notes if you choose to do so.Also, this is the Second Edition.. which is updated through 2008. That said, it has a lot of information about PTSD and common mental conditions with today's combat veterans. A handful of techniques are explained in regards to moving bodies and using casualty baskets. I was ultimately surprised that it went into dentistry with such detail.. which was awesome. What it comes down to is this.. GET THIS BOOK! Especially for the price, it can save a life and keep your family safe when 911 or emergency units aren't available.

From a reference perspective it just doesn't get too much better than this.Why? Because: the book has several hundred individual contributors, thus no one person's opinion has jaded the entire contents of the book. The book has maladies/afflictions organized by bodily system, the type of affliction: diarrhea, cholera, typhus, typhoid, gynecological, joint, and an unexpected section for treating animal health. It provides several hundred disease as a page to a page and a half, each done by a different contributor, in terms of the following: a general introduction that provides gross info regarding the disease/affliction; the disease's symptoms; other diseases that might mimic the affliction - very important for misdiagnosis and reassessing what the disease might be; how the disease may be assessed, that is, what's the prospect of treating the difficulty in the field; a treatment plan - a medication regimen - for the afflicted patient, what the primary med is, and an alternate medication, if one exists, for the diagnosed difficulty should the primary med not be available, and the frequency of the med's application, and the duration of the treatment regimen; then it contains a section on patient education - each patient is, in reality responsible for their own care, thus bringing patient expectations into line with what can be expected from the treatment regimen. This allows the patient to assist, in so far as he is capable, in his own treatment.This book needs to be used with one of the drug handbooks: Pearson's Nurse's Drug GuidePearson Nurse's Drug Guide 2012 (Pearson Nurse's Drug Guide (Nurse Edition)), or a Nurse's Drug Handbook,Nursing2014 Drug Handbook (Nursing Drug Handbook) so that the practitioner may understand the implications of consuming the meds suggested in the Special Operations Forces Handbook. While the two do not make you a doctor, they do provide a reasonable treatment plan, and give an expectation of what should happen given the suspected affliction, and the treatment choices made, and clues to alternative diagnosis should the patient not respond to the initial treatment plan.

Love it for the instructions No dislikes

After this arrived, I put aside a couple of hours to go through it. Many parts are quite detailed though even some with a 'Band-Aid and Neosporin' medical knowledge could use it. It's very thick and contains LOTS....of information. I was a medic in the army for over 6 years and I can easily understand/perform over half of the stuff in this book. I've even done some of the more advanced techniques.The good things: It can guide someone through a procedure (with pictures in some cases). There's one on child-birthing, amputations, various surgeries, etc.Depending on one's medical experience and/or patience with the book/practical use.....the book contains small/minor medical knowledge to the stuff you hear and see about in the movies. For those wondering if they could add it to a BoB or similar: it weights a couple of pounds and it takes up space. I have a BoB but haven't decided if I'm going to add it or not.If you decide to buy this, it will provide lots of great medical knowledge. From a Medic standpoint, when you don't use skills and knowledge you lose them. Having this to fall back on to remind your brain every now and again would prove invaluable.

This tightly written medical text that far exceeds any Merck Manual is on par with texts that are far too cumbersome to pack along. If you need to quick reference on where to place a cc of Marcaine to numb a toe for a nail removal it is here. If you want to double check best drug to treat traveler's diarrhea it is here. From oral surgery to gynecology this book has reference material from solid sources. This is must have reference text for any PA-C, Fleet Corpsman, SF Medic, Advanced Paramedic, PJ, or hospitalist. Some MDs will look down on this as being too brief, but it packs a lot of info in a small package.