Business First Aid: Critical Care for Companies in Crisis!
Applying Emergency Room Protocols to Revive Your Business When Every Minute Counts
Applying Emergency Room Protocols to Revive Your Business When Every Minute Counts
"Business First Aid" series offer a revolutionary approach to handling business crises by adapting emergency medicine protocols to the corporate world. This isn't a metaphorical "first aid" book—it's a comprehensive crisis management system built on the proven ABCDE assessment framework from emergency medicine (Airway/Cash Flow, Breathing/Operations, Circulation/Revenue, Disability/Decision-Making, Exposure/External Factors). What makes this guide unique is its systematic, prioritized approach to business emergencies that removes guesswork and emotion from crisis response. Instead of generic business advice that fails during emergencies, this manual provides specific protocols for identifying which problems demand immediate attention, which can wait, and exactly what actions to take during those critical first minutes, hours, and days when the future of your business hangs in the balance.
Author Marcos Duarte Rivero brings a truly unique perspective to business crisis management, drawing from his parallel experiences as both a volunteer paramedic and a 30-year executive in large corporations. As a former volunteer paramedic during his youth with Escuadron S.O.S. and Mexican Red Cross, Duarte witnessed firsthand how systematic emergency protocols could make the difference between life and death, observing how proper execution could bring patients back from the brink of disaster. He then spent decades applying these same life-saving principles to high-stress business situations, developing a distinctive methodology that combines the precision of emergency medicine with practical business acumen. His diverse background allowed him to recognize that the same skills he honed as a paramedic—rapidly assessing situations, prioritizing genuine threats, and taking decisive action—proved invaluable throughout his journey to becoming a successful business leader.
Whether you run a corner café, manage a growing tech startup, or lead a multinational corporation, "Business First Aid" provides universally applicable crisis response frameworks that scale to businesses of any size or industry. The beauty of this approach lies in its adaptability—the ABCDE framework works as effectively for a restaurant facing a staffing emergency as it does for a manufacturing company managing multiple simultaneous crises. Small businesses with limited resources will find practical protocols that don't require large teams or extensive resources, while larger organizations can implement more sophisticated monitoring and response systems described in the advanced chapters. The book guides readers to identify their organization's unique "vital signs" and develop customized emergency protocols tailored to their specific vulnerabilities. No matter your business size or sector, these principles create organizational resilience that transforms crisis management from reactive firefighting to systematic response.
These books adapt medical emergency principles to the business context as an instructional analogy only. I want to be absolutely clear that I do not equate the importance of saving a business with the sacred work of saving human lives. The knowledge and skills of medical professionals—the doctors, nurses, paramedics, and emergency responders who taught me pre-hospital care principles—represent the highest form of expertise and service to humanity.
My deepest respect and profound gratitude extend to medical and emergency personnel worldwide who risk their own safety and well-being to save others. Their dedication, especially evident during recent global health crises, represents the noblest aspects of our humanity. The principles they follow and the protocols they implement are the result of rigorous scientific research, extensive training, and countless hours of practical experience dealing with life-or-death situations.
Copyright © 2025 Marcos Duarte Rivero