Those living with elderly people should pay attention to their respiration rate and should measure their blood oxygen levels, as people with very low blood oxygen levels are at risk of dying suddenly, a Taichung doctor said
“If your blood oxygen saturation drops below 96 percent and your respiration rate is greater than 20 breaths per minute, there is a problem, and you need to get to the hospital immediately,” Chung Shan Medical University Hospital physician Chuang Ming-lung (莊銘隆) said.
The Central Epidemic Command Center has advised people to seek medical assistance if their blood oxygen saturation is lower than 95 percent and their respiration rate is more than 30 breaths per minute.
However, Chuang said that such a situation is already too serious.
A blood oxygen saturation of less than 94 percent and a respiration rate of 30 breaths or more per second is defined as severe pneumonia, he said.
“At that point, you need a breathing tube inserted. Waiting until that point to send someone to the emergency room might be too late,” Chuang said, adding that leaving oxygen levels to get so low before seeking treatment might be the cause of the high COVID-19 fatality rate in Taiwan.
“Blood oxygen levels get lower with advanced age, but even in someone in their 60s or 70s, such low levels are cause for concern. It is better not to let the situation worsen before seeing a doctor,” he said.
A healthy person who intentionally breathes at a rate of 20 breaths per minute should have a blood oxygen saturation of 97 to 99 percent, but those with cardiovascular diseases or older than 75 would normally have a lower blood oxygen saturation and a higher breathing rate, he said.
One of the risks of COVID-19 is what doctors have called “happy hypoxia,” which is when a person with low oxygen levels describes themselves as feeling comfortable, Chuang said.
“Everyone has a different level of awareness of breathing difficulties, and some do not have any awareness of low oxygen levels at all,” he said.
Oximeters can be helpful for quick readings, but they are not always accurate, he said.
In related news, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Monday last week announced that Taiwanese nationals would be allowed to bring in or mail from abroad a medical oximeter for personal use.
The rule change is effective immediately through Dec. 31, amid high demand after multiple COVID-19 patients suddenly died due to low blood oxygen levels.
The FDA made the decision to permit “one oximeter per person” to assuage public complaints that medical oximeters people brought in or mailed from overseas were confiscated by customs officials.
However, if a package contains two or more medical oximeters, the person must seek FDA approval in advance, which requires a certificate of diagnosis, FDA Medical Devices and Cosmetics Division specialist Lin Hsin-hui (林欣慧) said, adding that the devices cannot be transferred or sold.
If the device is designed for sports related purposes, it does not have to be declared, she said.
Additional reporting by CNA
A year-long renovation of Taipei’s Bangka Park (艋舺公園) began yesterday, as city workers fenced off the site and cleared out belongings left by homeless residents who had been living there. Despite protests from displaced residents, a city official defended the government’s relocation efforts, saying transitional housing has been offered. The renovation of the park in Taipei’s Wanhua District (萬華), near Longshan Temple (龍山寺), began at 9am yesterday, as about 20 homeless people packed their belongings and left after being asked to move by city personnel. Among them was a 90-year-old woman surnamed Wang (王), who last week said that she had no plans
TO BE APPEALED: The environment ministry said coal reduction goals had to be reached within two months, which was against the principle of legitimate expectation The Taipei High Administrative Court on Thursday ruled in favor of the Taichung Environmental Protection Bureau in its administrative litigation against the Ministry of Environment for the rescission of a NT$18 million fine (US$609,570) imposed by the bureau on the Taichung Power Plant in 2019 for alleged excess coal power generation. The bureau in November 2019 revised what it said was a “slip of the pen” in the text of the operating permit granted to the plant — which is run by Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) — in October 2017. The permit originally read: “reduce coal use by 40 percent from Jan.
China might accelerate its strategic actions toward Taiwan, the South China Sea and across the first island chain, after the US officially entered a military conflict with Iran, as Beijing would perceive Washington as incapable of fighting a two-front war, a military expert said yesterday. The US’ ongoing conflict with Iran is not merely an act of retaliation or a “delaying tactic,” but a strategic military campaign aimed at dismantling Tehran’s nuclear capabilities and reshaping the regional order in the Middle East, said National Defense University distinguished adjunct lecturer Holmes Liao (廖宏祥), former McDonnell Douglas Aerospace representative in Taiwan. If
‘SPEY’ REACTION: Beijing said its Eastern Theater Command ‘organized troops to monitor and guard the entire process’ of a Taiwan Strait transit China sent 74 warplanes toward Taiwan between late Thursday and early yesterday, 61 of which crossed the median line in the Taiwan Strait. It was not clear why so many planes were scrambled, said the Ministry of National Defense, which tabulated the flights. The aircraft were sent in two separate tranches, the ministry said. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday “confirmed and welcomed” a transit by the British Royal Navy’s HMS Spey, a River-class offshore patrol vessel, through the Taiwan Strait a day earlier. The ship’s transit “once again [reaffirmed the Strait’s] status as international waters,” the foreign ministry said. “Such transits by
RSS