06 Jun Best Practices for Pulse Oximeter Use!
“Functional, good-quality pulse oximeters should be available in every area where patients are clinically assessed or admitted in sufficient quantities to meet all needs,” The Lancet Global Health Commission on Medical Oxygen Security
Do you want to improve the use of pulse oximetry among children and adults in your health facility?
The Open Oximetry Collaborative Community just made it a whole lot easier!
Simply click here to build your own Best Practices for Pulse Oximeter Use infographic in English, French, Spanish, and Portugese.
Designed and vetted by leading clinicians from the Open Oximetry network, the infographic uses simple language and images to encourage correct procedures for pulse oximeter use.
Don’t have time to build your own? You can also download pre-made versions to suit your needs here (scroll down).
Then just print a poster to hang on the health facility wall, brochures for training sessions, bedside charts for wards, or whatever works for your team.
But don’t forget to take a picture and post it on social media using #OpenOximetry. See the posters on the walls of health facilities in Nigeria, Uganda, and Pakistan.
Why is this so important?
Pulse oximetry measures an essential vital sign— peripheral blood (hemoglobin) oxygen saturation. Correctly used, it can identify children and adults with hypoxemia which is a strong predictor of death in patients of all ages and various illnesses.
Pulse oximetry is a cornerstone of safe and effective medical oxygen provision.
It can also be used to identify patients who need extra attention, care, and monitoring, making it a useful tool for risk stratification and decision making at all levels of the health system.
Pulse oximetry is non-invasive, low cost, simple to use, and provides rapid and continuous results.
This is why it is so concerning that pulse oximetry remains unavailable to so many patients. The Lancet Global Health Commission on Medical Oxygen Security found that pulse oximetry was used on less than 1 in 5 unwell people presenting to general hospitals in low- and middle-income countries.
Half of all general hospitals in these settings do not even stock pulse oximeters and they are basically unavailable in primary healthcare facilities. The greatest inequities are in small government health facilities in rural areas of sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.
The Commission concluded that there was an “urgent need” for high-quality, robust pulse oximeters at every level of the health system and that health-care workers must be better equipped and supported to use pulse oximeters effectively.
Thank you Open Oximetry for helping to make quality pulse oximetry available to all patients!
And don’t forget to sign the Every Breath Counts petition, Pulse Oximeters that Work for EVERYONE!