…The cardiac unit is a jungle, inhabited by fiercenurses, killer intensivists, marauding attendings, variousflesh-eating specialists, sick patients, and lots ofarrhythmias. –from the Preface
Can you recognize the call of the normal sinus rhythm? Name thenatural habitat of Multifocal Atrial Tachycardia or VentricularFibrillation? Are you well-versed in the proper care and feeding ofAsystole and Atrial Flutter?
If you answered “no” to any of these questions, thenyou need this trusty guide to help you identify and respond toarrhythmias in the veritable wilderness of the busy hospitalward.
Created by a seasoned physician educator at a major urban medicalcenter and inspired by the “field guides” used bybirders, botanists and the like to identify flora or fauna in thewild, this new book offers a unique – and uniquely humorous– approach to mastering the ever-vexing challenge of arrhythmiaidentification.
Each arrhythmia is covered beginning with a sample ECG strip,followed by brief text describing its significant characteristics;where and when it is likely to be encountered (its“Habitat”); comments, questions and queries likely tobe heard from physicians and other colleagues on the ward (the“Call”); and finally what steps the reader needs totake upon identifying the arrhythmia in a patient (“Care andFeeding”).
Dr. Lader’s approach brings the sights and sounds of amodern hospital to life, enabling you to understand arrhythmiadiagnosis and clinical response in context, and his offbeat,sometimes irreverent humor makes each detail memorable.
Fifty self-assessment questions are included to help you masterarrhythmia essentials and test your knowledge.