Avoiding Common Errors in the Emergency Department

This is the second edition of a book that I originally found in medical school, which I've read through a couple times and found very useful. The revised edition is significantly expanded compared the original, with almost a complete rewrite of the content. There are 365 unique, short chapters focusing on "common errors" in the management of emergent conditions -- I liked this book a lot because of the focus on high risk diagnoses or chief complaints in the error-prone, high decision density environment of the ED. While many of the topics are things that will be familiar to most clinicians, it never hurts to be reminded of an approach to troubleshooting post-intubation hypotension, or of the risk for abdominal compartment syndrome (though not typically an ED diagnosis) alongside instructions for how to measure abdominal compartment pressure. There are sections on things like cardiology, e.g. "Know the Mimics of Ventricular Tachycardia" and also critical care, with a great chapter on "How to Care for the ICU Boarder in Your ED" by none other than Josh Farkas who writes the PulmCrit blog I like so much. There are sections on upcommon presentations and pitfalls therein, such as "Normal Diagnostic Studies Do Not Rule Out Shunt Malfunction" and more medico-legal focused (clinical medicine is the overarching focus of the book, but I found this helpful) and clinical practice ares such as crowding, consultant communication / documentation and how to handle a deposition request. All in all, very readable, brief chapters that you could very easily read one of every day and learn something new, and well-written by authors respected in their fields. A bargain, and comes with an eBook that you can use as a reference on shift.

Excellent book for review and reference for anyone practicing medicine, whether in primary care, urgent care, or the ER. It’s a good read, and the short, to the point synopsis of why you should do, and why you should do it to prevent malpractice and to have good patient outcomes is straight & to the point. I am glad I purchased it, not only for myself, but also for the other NP’s to use in our rural ER.

Easy and quick to read, very useful information.

This is the first time I have used one of the books in the Avoiding Common Errors series. Most of the topics discussed are relevant to the clinical emergency medicine. The questions that lead into each topic are very specific for example "post cholecystectomy pain". In general the topics were covered in sufficient detail to give a reader a decent amount of knowledge about a topic

Very informative. It is supposed to be a daily read as opposed to a cram type of read. Written by the SMEs of EM. Full of pearls. I recommend this book to those who have been in EM for at least 1 year. Otherwise, the information may be irrelevant or difficult to follow.

This book is one of my favorite resources. I hope they update it regularly! Such a readable style and practical knowledge that is presented in an interesting manner. Chock full of essential pearls!!

Excellent author

omg This is a superb book. I got tired of books that discuss conditions in broad superficial ways like most Medicine books. This is a very portable book teeming with precious up to date advice that covers more Medicine than any other. Hundreds of top notch contributors ! Pleasant to read . A gem ! I would have bought it even if it cost ten times more! Pierre