Fetal Monitors

Nicholas Tan asked:


Heart rate monitors used to be exclusively operated by physicians and nurses alone but that was soon rectified with today’s multi-tasking generation. Every person seemed to want to know about everything that was related to them and that of course included monitoring their own heartbeats.

What is a Heart Monitor

Also known as a cardiac monitor, a heart monitor is a piece of electronic equipment that can be used to track or observe heart functions continuously. It allows people to place a numerical value on their healthiness based on their heart rate and have a target heart rate to work for. The more complex versions of the heart monitor allow physicians to see any signs of deterioration or improvement and make the necessary adjustments immediately.

Types of Heart Monitors

Today, heart monitors are produced by the millions and designed to cater specific types of individuals. Some heart monitors are primarily designed for weight loss programs while others are meant for the use of athletes or fitness programs. Some are wireless or come as a built-in feature of exercise equipment like a treadmill or an exercise bike. It can be strapped to your wrist or of considerable size. It may or may not emit any electromagnetic waves, depending on its purpose. A fetal heart monitor, for instance, must not produce any waves at all as this may affect the health of the baby.

Factors on Selecting the Best Heart Monitor for You

ECG-Accurate Monitors with Chest Straps – Heart monitors that come with chest straps are more often not the most accurate of heart monitors. The chest strap is strapped around your chest, a few centimeters below your breast. It contains a device that’s able to detect electrical activity of your heart and transmit it to the brain of the machine – just like an ECG. The results are shown on the display monitor, which most of the times is attached to your wrist like a watch. Others however prefer results to be transmitted through audio messages via earphones.

Upon choosing heart monitors with chest straps, you need to remember to keep the strap constantly connected to your body lest you want the heart monitor to produce inaccurate readings.

Lastly, the only alternative against buying heart monitors with chest straps are the ones that rely on pulses on your fingertips. These however do not provide readings as accurate as those with chest straps.

Heart Monitor Features – Basic and lower end models tend to display only your heart rate and maybe the elapsed exercise time as well. This of course does not provide sufficient information if you want to know exactly how much you need to improve before you can be qualified as a completely healthy individual. Higher end models will naturally offer a wider range of features – for a price. Examples of such features are – but not limited to – heart rate zone alarms, timers and number of calories burned. It may also allow users to set pre-programmed workouts along with a targeted heart rate.

Ease of Use – Lastly, you must purchase a heart rate monitor that you will have no problems of using. What good would a high end heart monitor do if it takes you an hour to operate it? Are the numbers and words appearing in the heart rate monitor readable? Can it be used in no-light situations? Are buttons well-labeled and ergonomically positioned?

To Buy or Not to Buy a Heart Monitor

Heart monitors can be especially costly, more so if you are intent on purchasing higher-end models. If you have a limited budget, you should ask yourself whether or not you truly need to buy a heart monitor. You can of course purchase one of the lower-end models but low quality heart monitors can lead to inaccurate results and that sort of defeats the purpose of buying one.

If you are intent on purchasing a heart monitor, you need to ask yourself another question: do you need to make a solo purchase or is it alright with you to use the heart monitor that comes as a built-in feature of a treadmill? Lastly, you should remember as well that you can always pay your doctor regular visits and have him monitor your heart rate for you.



Florence

Thomas MacIntosh asked:


An EMT or emergency medical technician is competent to provide emergency medical services to those who are critically ill or injured. Various equipments come handy in emergency situations and are used by the EMTs. These are referred to as EMT equipment. These include defibrillators, infusion pumps, suctions, transport incubators, (portable) monitors and a host of such other medical equipment of great importance in emergency situations.

At one time the emergency medical technicians were considered to be ambulance attendants. However, the modern EMT has been ascribed many more tasks which are of immense importance. The EMTs have to respond to various types of emergency calls. Hence the EMTs are given training in practical emergency medical knowledge. They are made to acquire skills and knowledge which can be deployed within a very short time. Hence the range of EMT equipment has also become far wider incorporating several sophisticated complex equipments.

The list of all essential EMT equipment of the day is pretty long. There are to be included portable suction equipment, big valve masks (for children, infants and adults), oropharyngeal or nasopharygeal airways of various sizes, oxygen kit with regulator, nasal cannulas, traction splint with the right accessories, cervical collars, large trauma dressings, sterile gauze pads etc., sterile burn sheet, splints for upper and lower extremity injuries, head immobilizers, rolls of tape of various measures, some necessary kits, a liter each of potable water and saline for irrigation.

Triangular bandages, shears, penlight, blood pressure cuff, stethoscope, non-sterile gloves, Vaseline gloves, oral glucose, body temperature measuring devices (like thermometers) and PASG find place in the list too. Besides, paper and pen/pencil and large garbage plastic bags need to be also kept. Among the range of portable monitors needed there are the anesthesia monitors, fetal monitors, ICU monitors, pulse oximeters, telemetry monitors, transport monitors and vital signs monitor.

An EMT equipment bag i.e. a bag containing all the valuable life saving medical equipment or devices required by emergency medical technicians is also becoming available. This special bag enables the EMT personnel to carry the necessary equipment associated with their profession as also the things of everyday use like books, paperwork, cell phone, tools, pocket knifes, iPod, wallet etc.

The EMT equipment comes of great use in military and rescue operations. The EMTs attending medical emergencies, hazardous materials exposure, fires, injuries, trauma and even psychiatric crises use such equipment for carrying out their operatons. These life-saving equipments are just indispensable for the work of emergency medical technicians and emergency medical service providers.



Joann