I’m continuing to try to solve
a life and death problem
for my disabled sister.
A piece of technological info
would help.
My sister lives
in an apartment complex with an intensive
nursing setting. It’s for youngish
severely disabled people. For instance
there are people who sleep with
respirators, and TV cameras on
them monitored in the nursing station,
in case the respirators stop during
the night.
Is there a device that would
a)monitor heart and respiration,
or, failing that, just heart rate, and
b) beam a signal to a nearby
nurse’s station in case of cardiac
or respiratory malfunction?
I’m aware of telemetry devices
in ICUs, but these are expensive
and involve placing leads on
people’s chests. My sister is
at out at a day program all day.
The question is at night.
Is there something relatively
inexpensive and not particularly
labor intensive to attach
that can send a
signal a short distance in case
of trouble?
OT, and I trust you appreciate
why I’m taking this liberty.
For reasons that I won’t go
into I can’t talk to the facility,
etc.
Jim,not being able to talk to the facility would seem an obstacle to overcome and seeking advice on this matter ,whatever the circumstance,might be just as helpful as the technical info you are seeking.I´d like to share this with you and your sister as a prayer.Peace, Mike:)
“This frail vessel thou emptiest again and again,and fillest it ever with fresh life.This little flute of a reed thou hast carried over hills and dales,and hast breathed through it melodies eternally new…Thy infinite gifts come to me only on those very small hands of mine.Ages pass,and still thou pourest,and still there is room to fill.”
Rabindranath Tagore,Gitanjale
(exerpt from Deepak Chopras´s The seven spiritual laws of success)
Jim, I get the impression that your sister is not in danger from her own body but from somebody else. If this is the case, there is another place you can go. Call the police or the Abuse hotline in your area. There are people to help you with this out there.
I don’t have any information for the heart monitor but if you call your local hospital maybe they could refer you to someone that knows about this.
I also offer my prayers for your sister and your family.
Best regards,
Kathy
edited to add text.
[ This Message was edited by: chattiekathy on 2002-09-21 09:02 ]
Thanks for the prayer and the good
advice. Unfortunately it’s a case of ‘been
there, done that.’ I was on the line for
decades trying to protect a
severely disabled woman. I have fifty
telephone numbers tattooed on
my thigh.
When pro-lifers talk about ‘socially
and medically vulnerable people,’
they ain’t just whistlin Dixie!
Thanks again, Jim
You might want to look into pulse oximetry. A pulse oximeter would attach to a finger (or sometimes a toe or earlobe, etc.) and determines the amount of hemoglobin saturated with oxygen. I have no idea of the cost, but I do know that remote pulse oximeters do exist.
As to your second question, if the brain is deprived fully of oxygen (i.e., respiration stops) it’s generally said permanent brain injury occurs in 3 to 5 minutes and brain death in about 10. That’s why CPR is so important. The purpose of CPR isn’t to restart the heart, it’s to keep the brain oxygenated until further medical interventions can take place.
Thanks, very helpful. Also there
have been some very helpful emails.
I’m needing to change the mind
of a person who is convinced
that CPR will lead to brain damage.
As my sister spends her days
surrounded by medical personnel
in a setting ready to act,
it’s likely that CPR will either
save her without brain damage
or she will die on account of
the underlying cause of arrest–the prospect
of survival with more brain damage
is slight. She is non-terminal,
happy, not at risk in any particular
direction, and not old.
Colorado now has a newish law
concerning CPR. The advance directive
declines all intervention that ‘supports’
breathing or heart beat, not just
chest compression, in case of
‘cardiac or pulmonary arrest or
malfunction.’
Great word,
‘malfunction.’ Broad and vague.
If you’re disabled and have difficulty
speaking for yourself, you
are liable to be no-coded by
somebody or other without
being consulted or informed–
no matter that you are young
and reasonably healthy. My sister
was no-coded by her physician illegally
in 1986, despite his having been
ordered to resuscitate if ever it
became necessary. That was the
just the beginning.
Thanks again, gang! I knew I
could count on you. Jim