Oxygen in the Blood

• Oxygen is carried in hemoglobin in the bloodstream. Knowing the amount of oxygen being carried can help the caregiver determine a patient's breathing status.
  
  

Pulse Oximetry

• The pulse oximeter is a medical device that measures the percentage of blood hemoglobin that is saturated with oxygen. This percentage is displayed to the health care professional.
  
  

Oxygen Flow

• When obtaining an oxygen saturation reading, it is important to note the amount of supplemental oxygen that a patient is receiving. This is generally recorded as the number of "liters per minute" shown on the oxygen flow meter attached to the oxygen cylinder.
  
  

Room-Air Readings

• Some insurance companies, including Medicare, require that a pulse oximetry reading be obtained when the patient is breathing only room air, without supplemental oxygen. In this case, the patient should breathe room air for at least 20 minutes prior to obtaining a reading.
  
  

"Normal" Readings

• The saturation readings obtained by the pulse oximeter vary greatly from patient to patient. It is important to know what is normal for an individual patient so that subsequent readings can be compared.
  
  

Warning

• Some patients suffering from severe COPD can become sensitive to the amount of oxygen that they are receiving. In that case, providing more oxygen than prescribed by a physician may actually worsen their condition.