1. Arterial Blood Gases
Diagnostic Services

2. The Respiratory System
The respiratory system helps us breathe
The major organ is our lungs

3. What happens when we breathe?
When we inhale (breathe in) the oxygen goes from the air into our lungs
From our lungs, the oxygen goes into these little sacs called alveoli
These alveoli are what help get the oxygen into our blood stream

4. Blood and Oxygen
These alveoli are situated right next to tiny blood vessels (called capillaries) and it exchanges carbon dioxide with oxygen in our blood

5. Arteries
Arteries are blood vessels that carry blood away from the heart
In this situation (and in most others) the arteries contain blood with oxygen in it

6. In this next exercise, you will play the role of a respiratory therapist to see if the people affected by the crash suffer from hypoxemia

7. Hypoxemia
Hypoxemia is a condition where there is not enough oxygen in the blood
This is why you may feel dizzy after holding your breath for a long period of time
You can get hypoxemia from lung damage or environmental factors

8. Hypoxemia example in the environment
Altitude sickness
At high altitudes there is less oxygen
If someone was coming from sea level and was visiting you in Greeley, they may suffer from high altitude sickness because they are not used to this level of oxygen

9. Altitude Sickness
People may feel dizzy, nauseous, headache, feeling weak or lazy, confusion, and having purple/blue fingertips

11. Back to the crash....
We know that the people involved in the crash suffered some injuries to their lungs
We need to find out if these injuries are affecting the amount of oxygen getting to the brain

12. The people involved.....
Bradley Jones was driving the motorcycle with his friend Melanie
Both are age 21
George Smith was driving the car
Age 47

13. Formulas
As a respiratory therapist there are a few things you need to calculate in order to see if a person suffers from hypoxemia
To find out how much oxygen is in the artery:
PaO2 = (0.27 x age)
To find out how much oxygen is in the alveoli:
PAO2= 147 – (PCO2 x 1.25)
PCO2 is the amount of carbon dioxide that is in the artery
If both of these values are within 10 of each other, the lungs are working fine
If there is more than a difference of 10, then the person has hypoxemia