Thought's on Pulse Oximeters

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Missedcue

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It's Christmas time and I'm asking for a pulse oximeter (what a nerd, right?) My issue is that I can't find much useful information on the web about different pulse ox devices. Does anyone have an opinion about brands or specs?

They are just so useful when I have a very bari patient and I can't feel a pulse in their squishy wrist.
 
Agency doesn't supply a pulse ox? Just buy one off Amazon for ~$30. That's what I did when I was at an agency that didn't supply, and it worked well enough for what I needed it for.





There ARE other places to take a pulse, too.
 
Linuss said:
There ARE other places to take a pulse, too.
Click to expand...

This is true, but if a wrist is squishy do you think the other pulse points are going to be less squishy?
 
If they have a squishy wrist, how do you know you're getting a good reading off of a pulse ox if you can't verify the pulse rate?
 
Missedcue said:
This is true, but if a wrist is squishy do you think the other pulse points are going to be less squishy?
Click to expand...

**cough** carotid **cough**

So if you can't feel a pulse, you'll let a grossly inaccurate machine dictate your treatment and documentation?
 
Like someone said earlier.....

"Why waste the money" (on lights for a car) "when you could be spending it on beer and hot girls?".
 
Flight-LP said:
So if you can't feel a pulse, you'll let a grossly inaccurate machine dictate your treatment and documentation?
Click to expand...

I bought mine, not for a pulse, but because I got tired of walking in to an ER with a breathing difficulty patient from a nursing home and being asked what the pulse ox was and not having an answer, not due to my ineptitude as a provider, but due to my agency only providing a certain number of some equipment, and the EMTs on BLS trucks take that equipment because they are lazy providers and don't want to do work, even though the Paramedics could actually do REAL medicine with it.





/rant over
 
If I were working in a rig without a Pulse Ox I actually see it as being a valuable tool. For $20 I'm not sure that you can go wrong.
 
Flight-LP said:
**cough** carotid **cough**

So if you can't feel a pulse, you'll let a grossly inaccurate machine dictate your treatment and documentation?
Click to expand...

A lot of my coworkers can't find the carotid. Crazy right?

If all else fails an apical pulse works.

Sent from LuLu using Tapatalk
 
I bought mine from CVS and it's fantastic for anyone without cold fingers. I highly recommend them for anyone on a BLS rig without cardiac monitors or ALS equipment. A digression, but I'm looking at the portable 3 lead as well (only since I'n dysrythmia certified
 
Sasha said:
A lot of my coworkers can't find the carotid. Crazy right?

If all else fails an apical pulse works.

Sent from LuLu using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Where's the apical?

















:P
 
medic417 said:
Where's the apical?
:P
Click to expand...

Sadly medic a lot of basics don't actually know. It's not something they teach, yet it's pretty dang easy to be taught! :wacko:
 
medichopeful said:
Sadly medic a lot of basics don't actually know. It's not something they teach, yet it's pretty dang easy to be taught! :wacko:
Click to expand...

:ph34r::ph34r: Wow how can we top that? Somewhere between 4 and 5 should be easy. Really breaks my heart.
 
Sasha said:
If all else fails an apical pulse works.

Sent from LuLu using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Yeah duh!

****Google's apical pulse as discretely as possible****
 
bigbaldguy said:
Yeah duh!

****Google's apical pulse as discretely as possible****
Click to expand...

Knew how to get it. Had no idea that's what it was called. Guy who taught me just called it auscultating

Sent from my DROID X2 using Tapatalk
 
medic417 said:
:ph34r::ph34r: Wow how can we top that? Somewhere between 4 and 5 should be easy. Really breaks my heart.
Click to expand...

Haha I see what you did there!
 
adamjh3 said:
Knew how to get it. Had no idea that's what it was called. Guy who taught me just called it auscultating

Sent from my DROID X2 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Same, ive always done this as a check to my tactile pulse, listen for lung sounds, auscultate the heart rate, never knew it had a name

Pulse ox are good for long distance IFT when the pt is sleeping, pop the pulse ox on just to make sure you dont arrive with a dead patient.

My squad is the primary rehab provider for our County. And 3rd alarm fire in county gets our dedicated Rehab team, and we carry the Masimo Pulse ox/ COox, whcih are good for checking the FF CO levels prior to relesing them back into the fire.

Every once in a while you get a AMS pt and everything else checks out, solid vitals, good color and all that, so i use it as a last resort if nothing else can explain AMS. Then you have to decide if the AMS with good perfusion but with a pulse ox of 85% is just a functioning hypoxic or there is something actually going on

Cause ive had a pt who was a function hypoxic at 78%
 
Bullets said:
Same, ive always done this as a check to my tactile pulse, listen for lung sounds, auscultate the heart rate, never knew it had a name

Pulse ox are good for long distance IFT when the pt is sleeping, pop the pulse ox on just to make sure you dont arrive with a dead patient.

My squad is the primary rehab provider for our County. And 3rd alarm fire in county gets our dedicated Rehab team, and we carry the Masimo Pulse ox/ COox, whcih are good for checking the FF CO levels prior to relesing them back into the fire.

Every once in a while you get a AMS pt and everything else checks out, solid vitals, good color and all that, so i use it as a last resort if nothing else can explain AMS. Then you have to decide if the AMS with good perfusion but with a pulse ox of 85% is just a functioning hypoxic or there is something actually going on

Cause ive had a pt who was a function hypoxic at 78%
Click to expand...

Chest rise should tell you if you're arriving with a dead patient.

And you also have to decide if the 78% is just your pulse ox being retarded.

Sent from LuLu using Tapatalk
 
Sasha said:
Chest rise should tell you if you're arriving with a dead patient.

And you also have to decide if the 78% is just your pulse ox being retarded.

Sent from LuLu using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Its 35 degrees in NJ right now, most patients are so bundled in clothing or blankets its hard to visualize the chest rise and fall. plus, its always nice to have a back up

And thats what i thought, but the recieving hospital got similar readings on three different pulse oximeters, they didnt believe me
 
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