Jim,
Among the books listed by the recent "favorite books" survey [1] respondents was the US Army Special Forces Medical Handbook (ST31-91B). This book is obsolete and has been supplanted by the Special Operations Forces Medical Handbook [2].
The best summaries as to why the one is obsolete I’ve found are:
“That manual is a relic of sentimental and historical interest only, advocating treatments that, if used by today’s medics, would result in disciplinary measures,” wrote Dr. Warner Anderson, a U.S. Army Colonel (ret.) and former associate dean of the Special Warfare Medical Group.
“The manual you reference is of great historical importance in illustrating the advances made in SOF [3] medicine in the past 25 years. But it no more reflects current SOF practice than a 25 year-old Merck Manual reflects current Family Practice. In 2007, it is merely a curiosity.”
“Readers who use some of the tips and remedies could potentially cause harm to themselves or their patients.”
JWR Adds: The new manual is a massive 680 pages. Here is the table of contents:
PART 1: OPERATIONAL ISSUES
PART 2: CLINICAL PROCESS
PART 3: GENERAL SYMPTOMS
PART 4: ORGAN SYSTEMS
Cardiac/Circulatory
Blood
Respiratory
Endocrine
Neurologic
Skin
Gastrointestinal
Genitourinary
PART 5: SPECIALTY AREAS
Podiatry
Dentistry
Sexually Transmitted Diseases
Zoonotic Diseases Chart
Infectious Diseases
Preventive Medicine
Veterinary Medicine
Nutritional Deficiencies
Toxicology
Mental Health
Anesthesia
PART 6: OPERATIONAL ENVIRONMENTS
Dive Medicine
Aerospace Medicine
High Altitude Illnesses
Cold Illnesses and Injuries
Heat-Related Illnesses
Chemical
Biological
Radiation
PART 7: TRAUMA
Trauma Assessment
Human and Animal Bites
Shock
Burns, Blast, Lightning, & Electrical Injuries
Non-Lethal Weapons Injuries
PART 8: PROCEDURES
Basic Medical Skills
Lab Procedures
APPENDICES
Thanks, – Frankie
JWR Replies: Thanks for mentioning the new manual! I have updated both the survey results post and the
SurvivalBlog Bookshelf
page, accordingly. OBTW, I have had difficulty finding an original copy of the new manual at a reasonable price. The copies that are presently listed on Amazon are "secondary market", at grossly inflated prices. But the good news is that the GPO [4] also publishes a paperback edition [5]
for $59. I would prefer the military 9.7" x 6.4" edition that is three-hole punched (and hence will lay flat when open–making it a better "working" reference), but the GPO paperback edition should suffice. There are also electronic editions available for PDAs and Windows [6] for $73, and for Palm PDAs [7] for $60. The SpecialForces
