Ok, here we go....I am a newby in this field, but I've seen something 
that I can't seem to wrap my brain around.
        On almost every occasion I've been present with a patient presenting 
with some type of difficulty breathing, EMT-P's and/or ER nurses just look at 
the machine and say, "Oh, he's got good saturation...", when to me (in all my 
inexperience) these people need O2. One in particular was a patient who ran 
out of breath at the end of his sentences. His sat was >95%. Another was a 
patient (at least 80 y/o) with a pulse of around 45, bp was 80/p (couldn't 
get it with a cuff). His LOC was way down. His sat was around 95 or so. I 
have to wonder about that.
        One question I have is this: How accurate is the pulse-oximeter at 
guaging the saturation of the patient? Are you just reading the patients 
finger or is that truly a good indication of overall saturation?
        One reason I ask is because I was taught that if a patient had or 
claimed to have trouble breathing you're supposed to give O2. Then I see it's 
different in the real world. I've asked this question before and got the 
equivalent of "shut-up, newbie", which is ok I guess but it didn't answer my 
question. 
        Anyway, I hope someone can scratch this itch for me. Thanks!
--- Maximus 3.01
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