How pulse oximeters help COVID-19 patients?
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday termed pulse oximeters as 'suraksha kavach' that have helped minimize COVID-19 deaths of patients under home isolation in Delhi. Delhi government has provided pulse oximeters to asymptomatic and mild symptom corona patients undergoing home isolation. A pulse oximeter is a device that measures blood oxygen level. Coronavirus patients need to be hospitalised if their oxygen level reaches 90 per cent or below, according to health guidelines. A study of Covid-19 deaths reported in the last fortnight (from June 24) conducted by the Delhi government has revealed that no one under home isolation has died in the first week of July. The total number of daily deaths too have shown a sharp decline, the report said. As the cases increase day by day, it becomes crucial for everyone to know about each and every detail regarding the treatment of the infection. Oximeters play a crucial role in the same but do you know how?
What is an oximeter?
A pulse oximeter is a device that helps in measuring oxygen level in the blood. Now that everyone knows that the novel coronavirus attacks the respiratory system, a drop in the oxygen level becomes an early indicator of the lungs being infected.
How does an oximeter help in fighting COVID-19?
The oximeter plays a crucial role in monitoring the oxygen levels and lets an individual know about the dropping levels. Not only this, it even informs a person when an individual does not feel breathless. That allows medical professionals to know soon that the health of the patient is deteriorating. It alerts the patient and the health worker so that hey can quickly handle the situation of falling oxygen levels and early institution of antiviral medication.
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.
The Delhi government also said that home isolation experience of patients was improved by daily tele-counseling and providing oximeters so that people feel safe and comfortable at home.
-WITH PTI INPUTS
