Marshall & Ruedy's On Call: Principles & Protocols

by Anthony F. T. Brown AM, FRCP, FRCS (Ed), FACEM, FRCEM, Mike Cadogan MA(Oxon), MBChB, FACEM, FFSEM, Antonio (Tony) Celenza MBBS, MClinEd, FACEM, Viet Tran BMedSci, MBBS, FACEM

Overview

Marshall and Ruedy's On Call: Principles & Protocols, Australasian and UK 4th edition offers a carefully structured, risk-based approach to the initial assessment, investigation, differential diagnosis and short-term management of a wide variety of on-call ward problems.

This fourth edition has been completely revised, with the addition of a new author, new chapters and updated content based on the latest evidence-based guidelines. The layout is in a succinct, easy-to-read format that outlines a practical, fast, efficient and effective bedside approach to clinical problem-solving on call. Clinical reasoning has never been made so explicit and exciting!

• General principles: Overview of the professional, organisational, ethical and social traits required of the junior doctor on call
• Emergency calls: Risk-stratified approach to life-threatening airway, breathing, circulation, neurological disability and environment factors (ABCDE)
• Common calls: Explicit detail on how to deal with every call from urgent to non-life threatening, based on a standardised, reproducible clinical reasoning approach
• Investigations: How to interpret an ECG, common imaging, acid base, electrolyte and haematological tests when on call
• Practical procedures: How to perform a large array of practical procedures that may be needed when on call
• Formulary: Quick reference for the indications, actions, adverse effects, cautions, doses and routes of administration of the vast array of drugs encountered in ward patients
• Laboratory values: Normal values for all the common tests

This edition includes the full eBook on eBooks+ with additional reading material, high-quality images, procedural videos and references available on https://litfl.com.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780729545020
Publisher:	Elsevier Health Sciences
Publication date:	09/01/2025
Edition description:	4th ed.
Pages:	702
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.00(d)

About the Author

Professor Tony Brown has written extensively in the medical literature, including a bestselling handbook on emergency medicine now in its eighth edition. He holds a Professorial academic teaching title at the University of Queensland Faculty of Medicine, and still works full-time in clinical emergency medicine. He was awarded the Order of Australia (AM) in 2018, “For significant service to emergency medicine as a clinician, author and educator". His teaching awards include the inaugural Teaching Excellence Award 2001 at the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine; the Excellence in Clinical Teaching Award 2001 at the Royal Brisbane Hospital; the Outstanding Teaching Award 2015 at the Royal Brisbane Clinical School, University of Queensland; and The Michael Perera Teaching Award, Royal Brisbane Clinical Unit, Phase 2 MD Program, Faculty of Medicine, University of Queensland in 2021.

Mike Cadogan (sandnsurf) has a special interest in medical education, AI-powered medical informatics and the integration of social media with healthcare. He designs and implements web-based online education programs for undergraduate and postgraduate students. He is the co-founder of LITFL.com, and consultant for Medmastery.com and PMcardio.com.

Professor Tony Celenza is the Head of the Discipline of Emergency Medicine at the UWA Medical School, and Director of Clinical Research in the Emergency Department of Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital. He has been Director of the UWA MD Program and has designed and conducts courses in Airway, Respiratory, Cardiovascular, Neurological, Orthopaedic, and Wilderness Emergencies for rural practitioners, medical students, and emergency trainees. He is passionate about medical education and has received several international, national and local awards for excellence in education and teaching.

Associate Professor Viet Tran is a clinician, researcher, educator, and patient advocate. He is founder and director of the Tasmanian Emergency Medicine Research (TASER) Institute, where he inspires patient care through an evidence-based and data-driven approach. He is also the founder of Doctorswriting.com . He was awarded the Early Career Research Award 2022, College of Health and Medicine, University of Tasmania; and the Vice Chancellors Award for Teaching Excellence in 2023, University of Tasmania.

Table of Contents

Section A General principles

Chapter 1 Approach to the diagnosis and management of on-call problems
Chapter 2 Professionalism and teamwork
Chapter 3 Documentation and communication
Chapter 4 Ethical and legal considerations
Chapter 5 Death, dying and breaking bad news
Chapter 6 Transferring the unwell patient
Chapter 7 Junior Doctor Health

Section B Emergency calls

Chapter 8 The critically ill patient
Chapter 9 Cardiac arrest
Chapter 10 Acute airway failure
Chapter 11 Acute respiratory failure
Chapter 12 Acute circulatory failure
Chapter 13 Disability: acute neurological failure
Chapter 14 Environment, exposure and examination
Chapter 15 Hospital-based emergency response code

Section C Common calls

Chapter 16 Shortness of breath, cough and haemoptysis
Chapter 17 Chest pain
Chapter 18 Heart rate and rhythm disorders
Chapter 19 Hypotension
Chapter 20 Hypertension
Chapter 21 Altered mental status
Chapter 22 Collapse, syncope and mechanical falls
Chapter 23 Falls
Chapter 24 Headache
Chapter 25 Seizures
Chapter 26 Weakness and dizziness
Chapter 27 Abdominal pain
Chapter 28 Postoperative ward calls
Chapter 29 Altered bowel habit
Chapter 30 Gastrointestinal bleeding
Chapter 31 Haematuria
Chapter 32 Decreased urine output and acute kidney injury
Chapter 33 Frequency and polyuria
Chapter 34 Leg pain
Chapter 35 Febrile patient
Chapter 36 Skin rashes including allergic reactions
Chapter 37 Transfusion reactions

Section D Investigations

Chapter 38 Electrocardiogram
Chapter 39 Chest X-ray
Chapter 40 Abdominal X-ray
Chapter 41 CT head scan
Chapter 42 Urinalysis
Chapter 43 Acid–base disorders
Chapter 44 Glucose disorders
Chapter 45 Sodium disorders
Chapter 46 Potassium disorders
Chapter 47 Calcium disorders
Chapter 48 Anaemia
Chapter 49 Coagulation disorders

Section E Practical procedures

Chapter 50 General preparation for a practical procedure
Chapter 51 Infection control and standard precautions
Chapter 52 Blood cultures
​​​​Chapter 53 Peripheral venous cannulation
Chapter 54 Basic USS
Chapter 55 Arterial puncture
Chapter 56 Administering an injection
Chapter 57 Local anaesthetic infiltration
Chapter 58 Nasogastric tube insertion
Chapter 59 Urinary catheterisation
Chapter 60 Paracentesis
Chapter 61 Pleural tap
Chapter 62 Chest drain insertion and removal
Chapter 63 Lumbar puncture
Chapter 64 Joint aspiration​​
Chapter 65 Cardiac monitoring and the electrocardiograph
Chapter 66 Defibrillation
Chapter 67 Electrical cardioversion (DC reversion)
Chapter 68 Transthoracic cardiac pacing

Section F Formulary

Chapter 69 On-call formulary

Section G Laboratory values

Chapter 70 Normal laboratory ranges
Index