Oxford Handbook of Critical Care for PDAs
Oxford Handbook of Critical Care for PDAs, 2nd Edn. A. R. WebbM. Singer (editors). Published by Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Price £25.50. ISBN 0-19-920586-3-8The high quality Oxford Handbook series is popular and well known. Perhaps the only drawback of these handbooks is their relatively large size. They require large pockets! This version of the Oxford Handbook of Critical Care is suitable for PDAs and Pocket PCs and offers a lightweight, portable version of this reference tool.
The product is presented on a CD. Getting started was easy. Installation was straightforward and explained step by step. Internet access was required for registration which gives access to updates.
Much of the text of the electronic version is taken from that of the paper version of the book, but the content has been somewhat re-organized and some new chapter headings added. These changes are on the whole logical improvements. For example, brainstem death is covered as a topic under miscellaneous disorders in the Handbook version, whereas in the electronic edition it is included in a chapter that also deals with organ donation. Additional chapters, for example, pain and postoperative intensive care, make the PDA version a daily guide for the intensive care doctor and others not familiar with postoperative care.
The PDA version is very easy to use and anybody who has used a web browser will find it intuitive. There are two options for the ‘front end’ of the Handbook seen on the PDA when the software is opened. One can view the main index or an electronic table of contents with active links to the individual chapters and subheadings within chapters. Chapters follow a consistent structure that includes sections on therapy, monitoring, dugs, and disorders making it easy to navigate to a specific topic. There are separate chapters on problems that occur frequently in the critical care setting for example, poisoning, infection, trauma, and burns. Searching either the index or the table of contents of these is easy and is not as cumbersome as paging through the paper version.
The content itself is of high quality. We examined the material presented on sepsis as an example. The topic is thoroughly covered and the key trials discussed. The Surviving Sepsis Campaign Guidelines are reproduced and their application discussed. Less common conditions are equally well covered. Each section is appropriately referenced with the key trials and papers.
This is a comprehensive critical care manual, but it is compact, easy to carry around and not exposed to the same wear and tear as the paper version. It is must for any ITU novice and will be of value to the more experienced.
Leeds, UK
E-mail: s.howell{at}leeds.ac.uk
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