On Mon, 12 Jan 2004 04:10:22 GMT, Dave S wrote:

Holy ****....

Yanno... blood RETURNING to the lungs, after its been used, has
saturations in mid to low 70's.. We start getting worried when the mixed
venous sat's stay (despite treatment) in the 60's.. (on the really sick
ICU patients, particularly Trauma and Cardiac Surgery ones, we place a
catheter to follow those values, in addition to others)

If your arterial sat is in the 70's you are not doing yourself any
favors at all.

Dave, RN, EMTP, PPASEL

Don't forget that in acclimated folk, the O2-Hgb dissociation curve is
shifted to the right. So at the same atmospheric pO2, they will have a
lower blood O2 saturation and a higher level of tissue oxygenation then
unacclimated folk. Very different from sick or post-op patients.


Ron (EPM) (N5843Q, Mooney M20E) (CP, ASEL, ASES, IA)