Written By: Longjam Dineshwori | Updated : June 23, 2020 11:51 AM IST
A pulse oximeter can not only show your oxygen saturation levels, but also your heart rate.
A sudden drop in oxygen levels is a symptom of deteriorating health condition in COVID-19 patients. It can result in abnormal circulation and cause shortness of breath. So, it is important for COVID-19 patients to monitor their oxygen levels. Considering this need, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal has announced to provide pulse oximeters for free to all those coronavirus patients who are in home isolation to monitor their oxygen saturation. And if there is any dip in the oxygen levels, the government would also provide oxygen cylinder at home to manage the condition before the patient reaches the COVID-19 healthcare facility.
Once the patient has recovered, the oximeters can be returned to the government, Delhi Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said at a press conference on Monday.
As per the current guidelines, a COVID-19 patient needs to be admitted to a hospital if his/her oxygen saturation drops to 90% or below (normal range is 95 to 100%). The Delhi government is reportedly procuring 1 lakh pulse-oximeters.
Kejriwal also informed that around 12,000 people are presently under home isolation in the national capital. In addition, he said that Delhi has received six lakh rapid antigen testing kits and testing has been increased by three times in the city (from 5,000 tests per day to 18,000 tests now). He assured that people in the city will not face any issues in getting tested for the coronavirus infection.
A pulse oximeter is a small clip-on device that is usually put on the fingertip to check the amount of oxygen in the body. However, it can also be worn on the ear or toe. A pulse oximeter costs between Rs 1,000 to 3,000.
This small device measures oxygen levels by passing small beams of light through the blood. Then depending on the light absorption in oxygenated or deoxygenated blood, it gives the reading of oxygen levels in the blood. A pulse oximeter can not only show your oxygen saturation levels, but also your heart rate.
Arterial blood gas or ABG test is the most efficient way to monitor blood oxygen levels, but this test can be difficult to do at home as it requires taking a blood sample from an artery. A pulse oximeter is an alternative test which is easier, quicker, and not painful at all.
The World Health Organization estimates that about 80 per cent of coronavirus infections are mild or asymptomatic. And COVID-19 patients who have mild symptoms or without symptoms are recommended for home isolation. Therefore, it becomes more important to carefully monitor the health of these patients, who constitute the major chunk of coronavirus infections.
Doctors also say that a lot of coronavirus patients suffer from extraordinarily low blood-oxygen levels, or hypoxia without even realising it. They explain that it could be because low oxygen saturation doesn't cause any obvious respiratory problems in the early stages of the disease. However, this silent depletion of oxygen levels can lead to cardiac arrest in asymptomatic patients.
This is where a pulse oximeter comes to the rescue as it helps monitor the oxygen saturation in asymptomatic patients. So, whether symptomatic or asymptomatic, a COVID-19 patient in home isolation must have a pulse oximeter to monitor his/her blood oxygen levels and call the helpline number for help in case there's a dip.
