Just happened to come across these while browsing on Wal-Mart's website... I didn't realize pulse oximeters were being sold to the general public... especially for only $59.00.
That's pretty cool. I can think of several friends who'd want one to help them in deciding when they should take their kid to the hospital.
It's not a bad tool to have in the arsenal when dealing with people with chronic respiratory issues. Sometimes it's hard to make the call on how bad "bad" feels.
I used to have a patient who we considered a "frequent flyer"... he had COPD and some other issues... and he was obsessed with his finger-probe pulse oximeter. He would literally wear it everyday and have it on every time we arrived and would be reluctant to let us take it off and attach ours.
He always gave us the story that his doctor told him if his SpO2 dropped below 98% he would die...lol.. we tried to explain to him but he was set in his mind and wouldn't listen.
I know some ski patrollers I work with use them. We don't take BPs on the hill just HR and RR, and it always throws the local FD for a loop when we get on the radio with them and give them an SPO2% as well, but the medics on the rescue have never said to stop using them and a few of them commented on how it was a cool and useful tool, since we do administer O2 on the hill when it's needed. I may end up buying one, but with all the other gear I have to replace this year I doubt I can swing it.
Its hard enough sometimes getting a good reading on a cold/poorly perfused/dirty pt with the top notch Masimo units. I don't see a lot of point in the cheapies. I'd never know if I could trust it. If I got a reading that I didn't like, I'd instantly assume it was the machine's fault...so what the point?
$59?! I bought one for $30 off of Amazon and use it fairly often.... mainly because my company refuses to supply all Paramedic rigs with them and I got fed up with looking stupid at bringing a respiratory patient to the ED without an SpO2...
That's what I like about the cardiac monitor based ones that display the waveform. There's 2 sources of confirmation, the waveform and the pulse. As far as pulse oximetry, I personally think it's an important piece of information about the patient, however also extremely easy to proscribe too much information to a single number.
I definitely think there are cases where it would be helpful for a person to have a home monitor. However, I would assume that for those patients a Rx could be written for it, and that it wouldn't need to be sold OTC.
I have to admit, when I first read that. I totally didn't believe you. But after a quick Google search. I'm intrigued and for it's cost, I may actually have to consider investing in one for my Wii.
Once had a scenario in my EMT class and it looked like there might be carbon monoxide exposure, but we didn't have a meter with us. I suggested we get an elderly COPD patient with a low baseline SPO2, hook up a pulseox meter, and send him in. If it goes up, we have carbon monoxide.
And who says EMTs can't come up with creative solutions to problems....
PS: On the scenario, we were like the third or fourth unit being sent in, and none of the earlier units were answering radios, so I had already refused to enter the premises.
Id like to have one for my own bag. But I wonder how good it is, I picked up a d stick at target and liked it at first, but I've noticed the numbers are all over the map. I tested it against a two other machines at the same time and the target machine was way way off. Sometimes you do get what you paid for.
I used to have a patient who we considered a "frequent flyer"... he had COPD and some other issues... and he was obsessed with his finger-probe pulse oximeter. He would literally wear it everyday and have it on every time we arrived and would be reluctant to let us take it off and attach ours.
He always gave us the story that his doctor told him if his SpO2 dropped below 98% he would die...lol.. we tried to explain to him but he was set in his mind and wouldn't listen.
Isn't 98% just a tad bit high for an SpO2 level on a COPD Pt? Makes you wonder if the Pt even had a Dx for COPD in the first place. Correct me if I am wrong but shouldn't the pulse ox for a Pt with COPD be in the realm of 88% to 92% which is much lower than the 95% or below that would be an indication that a "normal" person needs supplemental oxygen.
Even with that said, normal protocol is never withhold oxygen from someone in need. With a pulse ox of 98% there is definitely no need indicated. I would try to explain that to him but then again a *doctor* told him which automatically makes me wrong.
Just because someone has COPD doesn't mean their SpO2 will be 88-92%.
I'm a healthy young male, non-smoker, non-drug user non-asthmatic, and my Spo2 is routinely 95-97%.
Treat each person as they come. If they have COPD, chances are they will know what their usual saturation is, let alone if they called you up for SOB then probably something is different to begin with.
Trust me... we were all very much aware of his medical history. He was a smoker and on home O2 and had the general COPD'er appearance. He was just a little coo-coo about the pulse oximeter.
