-> JN>-> Just another case of looking at a device, and not the patient.
-> JN>-> Especially in failure, the patient can and often does just "loo
-> JN>-> a lot worse than the equipment tells you they are.
->
-> JN>       It works both ways. I had a baby at work, (Cook Children's
-> JN>Hospital, F.W., Tx.) with "normal" skin color. In fact, I just ask
-> JN>the nurse if she needed any help. She wanted me to "fix" the oxime
-> JN>because it was only reading 43%. About that time we both noticed t
-> JN>the baby wasn't breathing.
->
-> To get a sat that low, the kid must have been pretty sick. Where
-> there no other signs?
 No, in fact the infant "looked" good, but it was bundled up. As the
nurse said, it just decided to quit breathing. I walked through ER a few
day later and the kid was back...just stopped breathing again.
-> N> Point is: you should use your tools to help you but don't overlook
-> JN>the patient. Oximeters can be great if you let them.
->
-> Which for some reason people seem not to be able to do. A lot of good
-> medics, nurses, and even, or maybe especially, MDs seem to have this
-> fixation on the O2 sat monitor.
 My point: a lot of people "hate" the tools because of the alarms. I am
also a monitor tech at another hospital. I use the oximeters the same
way I use the heart monitors.
   James Nold EMT-P
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