Free Medical Books for Emergencies (Adults 18+, DRAFT)
Official, legal sources only. Hesperian publishes its books free to read online (the HealthWiki), and its store offers print copies and, for many titles, free PDF chapters. Books inform; they don't replace a trained health worker.
| Book | Publisher | Free official link | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|---|
| Where There Is No Doctor (new edition) | Hesperian | https://en.hesperian.org/hhg/New_Where_There_Is_No_Doctor · print: https://store.hesperian.org/products/where-there-is-no-doctor | The classic village health handbook: illness, wounds, medicines, when to refer |
| Where There Is No Dentist | Hesperian | https://en.hesperian.org/hhg/Where_There_Is_No_Dentist · print: https://store.hesperian.org/products/where-there-is-no-dentist | Tooth pain, infection and basic dental care where no dentist is available |
| A Book for Midwives | Hesperian | https://en.hesperian.org/hhg/A_Book_for_Midwives · print: https://store.hesperian.org/products/a-book-for-midwives | Pregnancy, birth and newborn care for community midwives |
| Where Women Have No Doctor | Hesperian | https://en.hesperian.org/hhg/Where_Women_Have_No_Doctor | Women's health in low-resource settings |
| All Hesperian titles and languages | Hesperian | https://hesperian.org/books-and-resources/ | Many titles in Spanish, French, Arabic and more |
| First Aid in Armed Conflicts and Other Situations of Violence | ICRC | https://www.icrc.org/en/publication/0870-first-aid-armed-conflicts-and-other-situations-violence | First aid when help is far away and the area is unsafe |
| International First Aid, Resuscitation and Education Guidelines | IFRC | https://www.ifrc.org/document/international-first-aid-resuscitation-and-education-guidelines | The evidence base behind Red Cross / Red Crescent first aid |
| Pregnancy, Childbirth, Postpartum and Newborn Care: A guide for essential practice (3rd ed.) | WHO | https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789241549356 | The standard WHO guide for birth attendants |
| Managing Complications in Pregnancy and Childbirth (2nd ed.) | WHO | https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789241565493 | Emergency obstetric care for midwives and doctors |
| Household water treatment and safe storage following emergencies | WHO | https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/documents/publications/household-water-treatment-and-safe-storage-following-emergencies-and-disasters.pdf | Safe water prevents the deadliest emergency diseases |
| Five Keys to Safer Food | WHO | https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789241594639 | Simple rules that prevent food-borne illness |
Links checked Oct 21, 2026 (curl -L): - All returned 200 except ifrc.org, which returned 403 (it blocks curl; a browser fetch confirmed it is live). - The old URLs en.hesperian.org/hhg/Where_There_Is_No_Doctor and store.hesperian.org/prod/*.html returned 404, so I replaced them with the current pages above. - I couldn't find a working free link for ICRC's War Surgery (the shop.icrc.org URLs I tried returned 404), so I left it out.