Pulse Oximeters are a Fantastic Form of Home Medical Equipment
Typically, medical equipment is seen in the hospital--along the stale corridors, offices and patient rooms. Now that technology has advanced enough to improve the portability of these devices, they are moving into the home setting with their patients who would rather be within the comfort of their own bed and family.
Depending on your needs, there are many forms of home medical equipment that can help make living at home that much easier. You can purchase most any kind of oxygen supplies that facilitate your respiratory care or you can invest in a blood analyzer that helps you monitor your own health. One of the most popular kinds of home medical equipment is the pulse oximeter. Usually connected to a medical monitor (which can also be purchased for personal use), the pulse oximeter indirectly measures oxygen saturation of the blood and changes in blood volume on the skin.
If your loved one is bed ridden, the pulse oximeter stays constantly attached to one of their fingers and is an easy way to keep track of their oxygenation at all times. Because it is portable and battery-operated, pulse oximeters are a great device for home medical equipment. How it displays the results on the monitor are also conveniently readable. It has in big numbers, the percentage of arterial hemoglobin in the oxyhemoglobin configuration. An accetable normal range is from 95 to 100 percent. Anything excessively below that indicates that something is wrong so once the doctor and nurse sees it, it can be analyzed and treated as quickly as possible. In fact, the big benefit of home medical equipment and homecare in general is that you can have your family or hired nurse act as your own personal physician. As long as they are trained in handling the hospital medical equipment at home, they can assist you. Having people you know and love act as caregivers is often very comforting for home patients because they don't have to feel the distress of dealing with invasive hospital personnel who may not understand their situation as well.