Pulse Oximeter: Uses And Benefits In Primary Care And Emergency Setting

Pulse oximeter (SpO2) is a useful monitoring and diagnostic first aid device that measures the saturation of oxygen in blood.  This device provides accurate pulse rate (PR) measurements on patients ranging from pediatrics to adults. A healthy person breathing normal room air has an SpO2 of about 96%-99%. Pulse oximeter is used by patients with asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and other respiratory conditions. Patients having serious respiratory problems usually get their SpO2 levels regularly checked by physicians.

Uses of Pulse Oximeter

The pulse oximeter is now used for evaluating the oxygen status of a patient in a variety of clinical and emergency settings. It helps in monitoring of oxygen saturation of hemoglobin in arterial blood non-invasively. Common uses of pulse oximeter include:

• Pulse oximeters help patients with respiratory conditions to monitor their conditions and use supplementary oxygen when required.
• Prompt recognition and treatment of hypoxia is essential in emergency situations whether it’s in hospital or at the site of incident. Pre-hospital use of pulse oximetry by EMTs enables them to match patients to an appropriate level of care.
• The pulse oximeter has been proved to be a useful addition to resuscitation equipment.
• Pulse oximetry allows accurate provision of O2 to patients in clinical settings in cases of severe asthma, infants with bronchiolitis, COPD and also by post-cardiac resuscitation patients.

Benefits of using Pulse Oximeter in emergency settings

A pulse oximeter allows doctors, EMTs, or first responders to measure the approximate oxygen saturation level of a patient’s hemoglobin. The saturation level indicates how unwell someone might be and whether they need supplemental oxygen or not. For example, the routine use of pulse oximetry at emergency department (ED) triage improves the acuity classification of patients. This concept is taught to medical staff or emergency professionals during their CPR training.

Conclusion

A pulse oximeter cannot provide information about hemoglobin concentration, efficiency of oxygen delivery to the tissues, or adequacy of ventilation. Physicians use pulse oximeters to determine the benefit of long-term oxygen therapy (LTOT) for COPD patients. They can also be used by clinicians and general population (when trained to use it) to detect hypoxaemia before it produces cyanosis and to help prevent the consequences of desaturation in blood. So the usefulness of pulse oximetry in primary care and in emergency situation cannot be denied because it efficiently assesses the adequacy of a patient’s oxygen level.