Dr Cochrane is a unique self-learning experience -the integration of Cochrane evidence with a quirky fictional story and multiple-choice questions provides readers with the opportunity to explore and understand the applicability of a Cochrane Review or Overview in a new way. In this series of fictional clinical vignettes, Dr Cochrane travels across time from the past century to the present day, to solve clinical problems using evidence from Cochrane Reviews. Read the associated article and/or listen to the Evidence-Based Child-Health podcast available online at www.cochrane.org/ podcasts/ and then test your knowledge with six multiple choice questions. You can find the answers to the questions in this issue on page 2007. In the next issue of Evidence-based Child Health, Dr Cochrane explores the evidence for croup, based upon the Cochrane Overview available in this issue (Bjornson C, Russell K, Foisy M and Johnson DW: The Cochrane Library and the Treatment of Croup in Children: An Overview of Reviews. Evid.-Based Child Health 2010, 5, 1555-1565).
On 6 April 2009 an earthquake measuring more than 6 on the Richter scale struck central Italy, killing 308 people. Twenty of the victims were children. Between 3,000 and 11,000 buildings in the medieval city of L'Aquila, the epicenter, were damaged. Around 65,000 people were made homeless. The name of this Baroque city means 'The Eagle'.
Nine months later, in November 2009, Dr Cochrane was directed early in the morning to the medical care centre. He was one of the volunteers from all over Europe joining the medical teams to provide help for those still living in the tent camp that provided temporary shelter. The immense tent sprawl was shaken by the icy mountain wind. An 80-year-old woman, or maybe older, sitting outside a tent looked him over cautiously then started to pray again. Or was it a lament?
Dr Cochrane was assigned to pediatric clients and families. A pediatric nurse -Giuseppe Bastianelli -assisted him with the task of caring for young patients and supporting Archie's not-all-thatfluent Italian. Luckily, medical problems in the camp