What do the numbers on a hospital monitor mean?

Heart rate, oxygen saturation, arterial pressure, respiratory rate, EtCO2 and the cuff pressure, switched on one at a time on a simulated bedside monitor, each with its usual range.

Transcript

A hospital monitor shows five or six numbers, each in its own colour. Let's switch them on one at a time.

Green is the heart rate, in beats per minute, counted from the ECG. A resting adult is usually between 60 and 100.

Blue is oxygen saturation, normally 95 to 100 percent. Check the pleth wave beside it. A clean pulse wave means the number can be trusted.

Red is the arterial line. Systolic over diastolic, updated with every heartbeat, and the mean pressure in brackets.

Yellow is the respiratory rate. Twelve to twenty breaths a minute is typical at rest.

White is end-tidal CO2, the carbon dioxide at the end of each breath. Normal is about 35 to 45.

At the bottom is the cuff pressure. It is measured now and then, not all the time, so always check how old the reading is.

The full guide is at patientmonitorsimulator.com.