Have you seen the new tools for measuring BP?, much better than that stupid cuff!

It won't change anything in first aid terms and the reason behind this decision is one of the reasons I don't feel it has a place in most first aid situations.



Let me expand on that a little, the reason for the change is that it has now been recognised  that a lot of people get  a bit nervous when they see a doctor and there blood pressure goes up. Hence not relying on the one reading (that was happening in a lot of surgeries) before prescribing drugs for hypertension.



Apply that to most first aid situations and we me have conflicting things going on. An example Joe in the stores collapses The person is anxious about what has happened (causing BP to elivate) he also has undiagnosed  hypertension, yet they may be losing blood internally (he fell across a storage box) so his BP is going down, but we don'tr know what his normal BP is so what will it tell us?  even if we have a history of the patient apart from a bit of reassurance what can we do about the result?

 All this assumes the person taking it knows what they are doing and the equipment he uses is calibrated. A lot of the over the counter ones are not the most reliable things in the world. 



Oh we can of course convey this to the ambulance service who in my experience will say thank you and go ahead and do there own set of observations in any case.

 



Interperating the physiological data is an inexact science itself, and well outside the scope of the FA ,and I have to say I am unlikely to make treatment decisions based on data that I have not measured.

There as so many variable that can stuff up your readings( medications being one of them) that unless the person is a trained health professional with properly maintained equipment (and even then it can be debatable) then I would consider the data worthless.

As a 'first aider', I agree with E4V5M6 in that the 'gadgets' should used as guidelines only and yes we should be treating symptoms and signs, but surely, if my SPO2 monitor gives a reading of 88% then I would be thinking of high concentration mask and give oxygen accordingly, (unless I had some knowledge that the patient had COPD then I would change the treatment). I would not able to tell that from merely looking at the patient, and yes, I could go down the route of if the patient is cyanose therefore could require oxygen.



All this I would be carefully noting down and recording ready for handover. I know that they will instantly carry out their own set of obs, but surely any info I give them will serve as a starting point from me being first on scene, any major changes etc. I would hate to think that all the work I have done and trained to do, will be completely ignored because I am not 'a trained health professional with properly maintained equipment'.

More kit, more expence, more skill fade. Kit can be useful but for First Aid I think we should keep it simple.



SPO2 monitors will give a quick indicator of heart rate but nail varnish or vibration white finger will distort readings leading to the danger of treating a piece of kit rather than the casualty with all the problems that could then occur with over oxygenation.

I think you are missing the point. It is not about ignoring what you say, whether as a CFR or FA, it is that the practitioner of whatever grade that takes over from you is clinically responsible for their actions. Therefore from a good patient care perspective, they will take their own readings and make their own observations and base their clinical decision on that. Turn the coin over - if they made an incorrect clinical decision based on someone-else's observations that harmed a patient, do you think their boss/the family/the coroner will just say "Never mind, don't worry, it wasn't your observations"? No, I don't think so either. Please see my earlier post. Even if I take over from an ECP, the GP, a District Nurse, I will still do my own obs.

Likewise, even though the patient will have already have given a history to the original responder, who will hand that over to me, I still sit with the patient and "I'm sorry. I know you have been through this already, but would you mind answering some questions for me"

As to a perceived difference between when you are a CFR and when you are in civvies, obviously I can't comment on individual incidents that might have occurred to you, I would say that in general if someone is in a recognisable uniform when the cavalry arrive, their credentials and likely standards are immediately established. When they are in civvies, it is much more about how you come across to the crew that will affect their feelings about you. I have dealt with a number of roadside incidents when in my car, or on my motorbike, and on many of those incidents have played an active part in the ongoing management of the case, working with the crew, even though we had never met before

I am in a serious condition of blood pressure.How could i control it easily.Would you like to define it well.I am not fully satisfy with the medicine which the doctor prescribe.