Saturimetro
free in pharmacies throughout the country starting from 11 January 2021 for 30 thousand people. Everyone will receive it citizens with respiratory diseases or families living with a patient suffering from respiratory diseases such as asthmapulmonary hypertension bronchiettasis, etc. Here is everything you need to know to receive it for free, what and to whom it is needed, how to use it and how to interpret the values.
Free pulse oximeter at the pharmacy
“The initiative was born from the need to make known this device, which serves to measure the degree of oxygenation of the blood and which can be a precious ‘ally’ to prevent serious complications from Covid – he explains Luca Richeldi, president of the Italian Society of Pneumology Sip and member of the Technical Scientific Committee (Cts) – An instrument that should be present in our homes almost as if it were a second thermometer but unfortunately, however, is still little known ».
To whom it will be distributed
«The pulse oximeter will be distributed in this phase mainly to patients with asthma and COPD, who are most at risk in case of contagion with Covid 19, and who in Italy – explains Marco Cossolo, Federfarma president – in total represent about 1 million people. “In this way, it is also easier for the physician to monitor patients. Additionally, we advise Covid patients to monitor your condition with the oximeter even in the absence of respiratory problems. In fact, a condition of ican you be silent in which oxygen decreases in the blood but the patient does not realize it and therefore delays the going to the hospital. Monitoring can prevent this from happening, ”adds Richeldi.
Pulse oximeter: the first 30 thousand throughout Italy
The first 30 thousand oximeters, purchased thanks to donations from Sip, will be distributed by Federfarma throughout the national territory in a couple of months. “Pharmacists will be invaluable thanks to their contacts and knowledge of the area, to identify individuals or families who will be able to receive the device for free”, explains Richeldi. “The subjects with Respiratory diseases are in fact at a higher risk of serious complications if affected by Sars-Cov-2. Precisely the reduced level of oxygen in the blood, caused by respiratory disorders and that the oximeter is able to detect, is in fact an indication of the risk of interstitial pneumonia which represents a serious complication of Covid. These patients can meet you if infected and the oximeter improves their monitoring ».
Close-up of unrecognizable black woman using pulse oximeter to measure blood oxygen saturation level and heart rate
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How does it work
Also known by other names like oximeter or pulse oximeter, the saturimeter is the useful tool for measure the amount of oxygen present in the blood and, as evidenced the Italian Society of General Medicine (Simg), therefore important for the home management of patients with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 infection. Small and simple to use, the oximeter fits like a clothespin on the patient’s finger and allows you to measure the so-called “Saturation index”: the amount of oxygen carried in the circulation by red blood cells, therefore if it reaches the lungs in sufficient quantity. In other words, it lets you establish the degree of respiratory function.
Even the national president of SIS118 Mario Balzanelli stressed that having the oximeter at home, for patients infected with the coronavirus, can be useful forself-monitoring and, consequently, to alert the rescue promptly before severe respiratory failure.
When can it give false values?
«The measurement depends a lot on the adequate circulation of the blood in the fingers and therefore conditions of poor circulation (low blood pressure, cold, movement, fever with chills, peripheral arterial disease) or other conditions that can affect reading (such as nail polishes, gel nails, dyes in the blood) can give falsely reduced values.
Some gases, on the other hand – such as carbon monoxide – when they bind to hemoglobin produce a red color and the oximeter cannot distinguish them, ending up reporting falsely high values: it could happen in the case of carbon monoxide poisoning but also in smokers there can be a difference of 10% », explains the l Dr. George Cremona, Head of the Pulmonology and Respiratory Pathophysiology Service of the San Raffaele Hospital in Milan, to explain us what the oximeter is, what it is for and to whom (patients with Covid 19 apart).
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