While critical care pharmacology and technology have become widely available, paediatricians and primary care physicians must frequently deal with critically ill children in understaffed hospitals. Those who represent the first line of care know that the first hours of treatment to a critically ill child have a significant impact on the outcome.

This introductory overview of paediatric critical care is written for medical students, paediatric residents, and residents from other disciplines who rotate through paediatric ICU. In addition to covering PICU topics, this tome reviews the initial management and stabilization of critically ill children. Management of life-threatening situations to critically ill children that are also reviewed in this book include respiratory failure, cardiovascular collagse, status epilepticus, status asthmaticus, upper airway obstructions, toxic ingestions, and sepsis.

This easy-to-read manual outlines basic concepts of paediatric ICU and makes for easy reading in a night on call. while also satisfying the requirements for a quick reference text that can help the unsuspecting health care worker in an emergency, its engaging presentation motivates readiness for critical care.

Joseph Tobias, MD, Director, Pediatric Critical Care/Pediatric Anesthesiology, Professor of Pediatrics and Anesthesiology, Department of Child Health, The University of Missouri School of Medicine, Columbia, MO, USA.