Where There is No Doctor by David Werner, Jane Maxwell and Carol Thuman

Rawles, the survivalist, highly recommended that every household keep a copy of Where There is No Doctor around as a guide to how to perform the most common types of medicine and hojw to diagnose ailments when, um, there is no doctor available.

I read through this book in the summer of 2011 as part of my continuing James Bond training. It’s a wonderful volume, which explains in simple language and diagrams how to prevent, diagnose, and treat a wide array of maladies and medical situations in less than ideal conditions. Need to deliver a child? Splint a broken bone? Treat diphtheria? Keep your village free from hookworms? It’s all here!

Highly recommended for any section of a library dealing with how to address extreme situations. If this were Fallout, reading this book would give you +1 to the Doctor skill.

The American Red Cross First Aid & Safety Handbook by Kathleen A. Handal

I’ve spent so much time learning how to dismantle people with krav these days that it seemed I should spend a little time working on skills on the other side of the fence. I needed to gain a point or two of First Aid Skill, and this book seemed like just the way to do it!

This is an imminently practical guide to the very lowest level of First Aid and care in critical situations. The book serves as a reference to be consulted in case of different types of emergencies, from Amputation to some emergency that starts with a Z.

It’s handy, and is better than nothing, but even if one had memorized all of the knowledge herein it wouldn’t be good enough in the case of a real emergency. Makes me think that I need to find and take a few classes in EMT or basic combat medicine.