EMS Field Guide: ALS Version

The EMS Field Guide by Informed is probably the most popular pocket reference guide carried on ambulances across the country. It is a better reference than any other pocket guide on the market.

The first time I saw one of these guides at an emergency medical service trade show, the vendor was selling them out of a fish tank full of water. When you bought one, he would scoop it out with a goldfish net and dry it off. Most of the guides were gone by the end of the trade show, but they'd all spent the week submerged in water without so much as a smudge.

The pages of this guide are made of some sort of plastic, which makes them waterproof and alcohol fast. If you want, you can write on these pages with a wet erase pen (the same pen you'd use for an overhead projector). Once you're finished with the patient and the paperwork, you can erase your notes with an alcohol prep pad.

I bought one of these guides at that trade show and I've been carrying it in my pocket ever since. It has an invaluable list of prescription medications in the back that I use on almost every patient. The information listed for each drug is limited, but it's enough to figure out what kind of medical problems your patient has when the only history you can get is a list of medications.

These guides also have information on medications carried on the ambulance, advanced cardiac life support, Spanish medical phrases (unfortunately not spelled phonetically), common laboratory values and much more. I believe every EMT or paramedic needs an EMS Field Guide.