[caesie'n'linc]

A friend is wondering where to get an oximeter. Her little bub has some special needs and she would feel more comfortable if she had one of these at home.
She's tried the hospital but they can't help her.

If anyone has any ideas of where/how to get hold of one that would be great. She's in Brisbane if that makes any difference.

Thank you

[songshirah]

We bought one online. It had the capability to record results and be downloaded to your doctor if needed. Bought it from here.

It arrived speedily and we've had no problems with the unit. It originally arrived with an overseas power plug attached, but a phone call got an Australian one sent out immediately.

I would recommend them.

Editted to say that if the baby has apneas there is a monitor with an alarm attached that can record apnea events. We got ours (9yrs ago, so probably others available now!) from our childrens hospital respiratory dept where DD was being seen. Has your friend been referred to that dept?

This post has been edited by songshirah: 08/01/2013, 10:46 PM

[ubermum]

All nursing supply shops (online) sell them. Try medshop or nurse stuff.

[sparkler]

Just be carefull, many of the cheap ones (fingertip) are designed for children 15kg plus if they are labelled paeds or are designed for adults.

[caesie'n'linc]

Thanks I knew you guys would be able to help

Her bubba is still little, a few mths old, so will let her know to be careful what she buys and make sure it will definitely do the job properly.

[jojonbeanie]

You can buy them online from a lot of the Australian medical supply sites. They range in price from $50 to $5,000 depending on what you need them to do. Your friend needs to think about what it is she needs from the equipment and therefore what machine will best suit her needs. There is a big difference between a finger-tip monitor that will enable you to spot check oxygen levels and a monitor which is going to be left on for long periods to monitor frequent fluctuations in oxygen levels and heart activity and providing an audible alarm if levels are too low/high. She'll also eed to think about what kinds of probes she will be using, attachment and replacment (they are expensive).

https://www.medshop.com.au/diagnostics/puls...CFfBHpgodDRgABA

[caesie'n'linc]

It's mainly for her own piece of mind. Bub has some issues (not my place to go into them in detail here), he has what she describes as floppy airways, he has some low muscle tone (not as bad as they expected) and he's just decided that he likes to sleep on his tummy...not ideal, but sometimes you do what you gotta do to get some sleep, right?

She says she's after one that goes on his foot, that's what she's used to using in the hospital the past few months.

[jojonbeanie]

So she wants one she can use for long periods and which will have audible alarms to alert her if oxygen levels dip. She'll need to pay thousands of dollars for something like that and will probably need disposable probes at $45ish each. Perhaps she needs to talk to the medical team about hiring an apnea monitor instead.

This post has been edited by jojonbeanie: 09/01/2013, 01:12 AM

[2 Gorgeous Girls]

We got our fingertip one off ebay but I use it on my 7 year old so she is much bigger than a baby. Also its for when she's sick not on a daily basis. We have run it with the ones at the hospital and it does provide accurate results.

For a baby you will need something far more high tech (expensive). Unless the Dr's said it was ok I wouldn't be letting my baby with floppy airways sleep on their stomach though even if it meant better sleep.