Review of manual of emergency airway management: R M Walls, editor in chief. (Pp256; $42.95). Lippincott Williams and Wilkins, 2000. ISBN 0 7817 2616 6

The front cover of this book bears the words: “Companion manual to the National Emergency Airway Management Course”. It is in this role that the book's design and concept was developed. It is not surprising therefore that the book achieves its maximum potential when used in that role. This is particularly evident in those chapters such as “Special devices for the difficult or failed airway” where complex psychomotor skills …