Oxygenation and Ventilation EMT

Our Summer EMT class of 2021, had a question when discussing oxygenation and ventilation. We applied a little research by setting up an experiment to answer two questions. Does holding your breath change your pulse ox reading and does hyperventilating change your pulse ox reading. We worked as a team to answer this question. We then pulled in an ALS piece of equipment, electronic waveform capnography, and demonstrated how ventilation could be measured. The class did have a question at the end of the day. If EMTs are now able to acquire 12 lead ECGs and transmit them to the hospital, why couldn't EMTs utilize electronic waveform capnography? Have a thought on this? Leave it in the comments!