A pulse oximeter is a device that helps in measuring the oxygen levels in the blood. With the increasing cases of coronavirus in the country, the demand for these oximeters is also increasing day by day. Not only does it help hospitalized patients to keep a track of their heartbeat but is also being given to asymptomatic and mild symptom corona patients undergoing home isolation. However, the latest video doing rounds on the internet shows the machine measuring the oxygen level of a pencil. Yes, that's true! Andheri resident was shocked when he saw the device reading both its oxygen level and heart rate. Not just this, he even clipped a piece of plain wood on the same and found it doing the same.
Talking to Mid-Day about the same, the man said, "In the name of medical equipment online and in the market, many unreliable Chinese goods are being sold. These cannot be trusted as they are playing with the lives of people. I would like to appeal to people to stop buying Chinese manufactured oxymeters as the one I bought shows the heartbeat and oxygen level of a pencil. Such an oxymeter can cost someone his/her life."
VIDEO COURTESY-- IBTimes
ALSO READ: What is a pulse oximeter? How does it help a COVID-19 patient?
Recently a lot of tutorials that have been put up on social media and YouTube telling people to buy pulse oximeters in order to monitor whether they have COVID-19 or not. This is the reason why their sales, as well as demands, have increased. Generally, pulse oxymeters cost between Rs 800 and Rs 4,000.
How do you use an oximeter?
The oximeter device has to be attached to the fingertip and then it averages out the oxygen level over a period of 6-12 seconds to give out the saturation level.
