Lucknow: A group of doctors from across India, including emergency medicine physicians and specialists from multiple medical disciplines, have brought out ‘The Red Book of Emergency’ to save precious lives that may be lost in the race against time in cases of heart attack, brain stroke, fall, dog bite, seizure or asthma.Stating that the guide aims at empowering people to deal with emergency situations, editor of the book Dr Lokendra Gupta dedicated it to Good Samaritans on the eve of National Doctors Day on Tuesday.Dr Gupta is the founder and director of Society of Acute Care, Trauma and Emergency Medicine (who leads the emergency medicine and trauma care department at Medanta Lucknow) to spread awareness on the issue.“The most certain thing about life is death. In between the two sides lies the opportunity to make a difference, influence a crisis and skew an emergency in favour of life. This realisation is the common thread that brought doctors from diverse cities and disciplines together and write this book,” said Dr Gupta.“One must understand that the guidance provided in the book is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. The aim is to save precious lives which at times takes just right awareness,” he said.Dr Utsav Anand Mani, a faculty member in emergency medicine department at the Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences, said that the book distils years of clinical experience into easy-to-understand narratives, identifies critical red flags, outlines simple pre-hospital interventions and debunks common myths to empowering common people.“There is no dearth of examples to show that ripples created in a medical emergency affect not just the patient but also their family. Death may often end suffering, but the residual disability – say in case of accident or stroke – prolong suffering which adds to social challenges like medical poverty besides impacting overall economy of a state or nation,” he said.The guide covers emergencies like heart attack, heart failure, cough, choking, stroke, seizures, road accidents, head injury, diabetes, burns, electric shock and lightning, heat stroke, dehydration, child emergencies, pregnancy-related challenges like bleeding and labour, and sudden loss of vision.Each of these sections have been written by specialists working in medical centres of repute including SGPGIMS, KGMU, RMLIMS in Lucknow, besides AIIMS in Gorakhpur and Rae Bareli.In each section, myths are busted, warning signs are flagged and a stepwise first aid guidance protocol is provided.For instance, the common myth is that health attack always causes severe chest pain or only old people have heart attack, or that heart attack can be treated at home with Ecosprin.The doctors said that every three minutes lost in case of a road trauma decreases chances of survival by 1%. Similarly, reaching hospital within golden hour can save a patient from disability.
