The How, What and Why of EMS Pulse Oximetry

I think it was in 1986 that I first encountered a new technology called pulse oximetry. I was called in for a two-hour transfer of a patient with chronic obstruction pulmonary disease (COPD) from a small rural hospital to a large tertiary center in a larger city. I was an experienced paramedic and fairly confident in my skills and knowledge. The patient was pretty sick as best I can remember. I took a report from the nurse and the doctor came up to me and said he was sending this patient with a machine called a "pulse ox." "What does it do?" I asked. "It measures their oxygen levels," he responded. "If the oxygen saturation drops below 90%, then you should intubate them immediately." I thought it was a pretty cool tool if it could tell you when to intubate! Wow! Pulse oximeter readings can help determine if a patient is hypoxic and help regulate the administration of oxygen. Photo Matthew Strauss Luckily, my patient's O2 saturation didn't drop below 90%, but I was ready if he did! It didn't dawn on me at the time that I knew nothing about this new tool, but the impromptu two-minute training I received gave me a certain amount of confidence based on the pulse ox reading and what to do. How many new tools do we purchase and put on patients without a full understanding of how the thing works? How many people use a cardiac monitor but aren't competent in rhythm interpretation? How many people run 12-lead ECGs but don't know how to interp...
Source: JEMS Patient Care - Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Tags: Patient Care Source Type: news