The Journal of Emergency Medicine, Vol. -, No. -, p.
1, 2017
Book and Other
Media Review
, AUERBACH’S WILDERNESS
MEDICINE, 7TH EDITION. BY
PAUL S. AUERBACH, TRACY A.
CUSHING, AND N. STUART
HARRIS. PHILADELPHIA,
ELSEVIER INC. 2017, 2707 PAGES,
2-VOLUME SET, EXPERT
CONSULT EBOOK, $209.
After many years of writing book reviews and teaching,
I have come to the conclusion that a ‘‘classic’’ textbook
can be identified when you just say the name of the
author. If I say Harrison, Cecil, Rosen, or Tintinalli,
they immediately know what I am referring to. Auer-
bach’s original textbook published in 1983 was titled
Management of Wilderness and Environmental Emergen-
cies and was coedited by Edward Geehr. They were both
recent emergency medicine residency graduates with an
interest in education, and this landmark publication was
the beginning of the specialty of wilderness medicine.
They went on to found the Wilderness Medical Society
and the ‘‘rest is history,’’ as they say. That first edition
was 656 pages and had 33 contributors; this edition is
2700 pages and has 247 contributors from all over the
world. Dr. Geehr assisted with the second edition, but
Dr. Auerbach edited editions three through six alone,
and with each edition getting larger, additional editors
were added for the seventh edition. Both of the new edi-
tors are well accomplished experts in wilderness medi-
cine and I’m sure ease the burden of Dr. Auerbach. A
bonus addition is an original painting by Bruce Paton
titled ‘‘Aiming High,’’ illustrating Dr. Auerbach’s
preface.
David Warrell’s 68-page chapter on venomous reptiles
is an unbelievable collection of photographs, clinical in-
formation, and natural history, and where else can you
pick up a textbook and learn about rodeo injuries, naviga-
tion, medical liability, bear behavior, volcanic eruptions,
frostbite, foot problems, and every tropical disease in a
single work?
The text is divided into 17 parts and 126 chapters,
with an appendix on drug stability and an extensive in-
dex. There is a collection of 41 videos associated with
various chapters that better describe surviving cold wa-
ter immersion, astronauts exercising aboard the Interna-
tional Space Station, and dental procedures, among
Copyright Ó 2017 Elsevier Inc.
Printed in the USA. All rights reserved.
0736-4679/$ - see front matter
other topics. The most irritating thing about this edition
is that once I start reading a chapter, chosen at random,
I can’t stop. There is so much to learn here and every
chapter seems to bring new and interesting facts and in-
formation on every subject even remotely related to the
wilderness. For example, Global Crimes, Incarceration,
and Quarantine would not seem like a topic found in a
wilderness medicine textbook, but it can be found here
and has valuable information on what to do at a road-
block or hostage situation. Ultrasound in the Wilderness
is another chapter that I was surprised to see, but
perhaps on long expeditions or with medical missions,
this would be quite useful. I thought that the Wilderness
Medicine Education chapter was very well done and
useful for educating students in any venue. There is a
20-page chapter on Genomics in Wilderness medicine
and an abundance of environmental biology and ecology
throughout the text in every chapter. The variety and
quality of the writing is outstanding and when possible
evidence-based. The illustrations alone are worth the
price of the book; color photographs, line drawings, ra-
diographs, ultrasounds, graphs, and tables are all
expertly produced and enhance the written text.
There is the classic question, ‘‘What books would you
take with you on a desert island?’’ Of course Plato, Shake-
speare, and the Bible all make the cut, but if I wanted to
survive, I would take this text. In fact, this might be the
only medical textbook you would need anywhere in the
world.
In summary, Drs. Auerbach, Cushing, and Harris have
brought to fruition an amazing collection of ‘‘something
for everyone.’’ It is the best of the previous editions,
and I recommend it for students, residents, nurses,
medics, rescue personnel, teachers, scholars, and anyone
interested in the wilderness, the environment, and how to
survive on Earth and beyond (there is a chapter on Space
Medicine: The Next Frontier). If you can only afford to
buy one textbook this year, make it Auerbach’s Wilder-
ness Medicine.
Edward J. Otten, MD, FACMT, FAWM
Professor of Emergency and Pediatrics
Director Division of Toxicology
University of Cincinnati College of Medicine
Cincinnati, Ohio
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jemermed.2017.01.016