Oximetry at home, Rapid lateral flow tests for Covid
Inside Health
BBC
4.4 • 575 Ratings
🗓️ 19 January 2021
⏱️ 29 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In Covid, oxygen levels in the body can crash without noticeable symptoms - it’s known as “silent hypoxia”. This week we’ll be discussing whether letting people monitor their oxygen levels at home with a pulse oximeter could save lives. James talks to Chris Harris, who’s been using one, and two pioneers of the project - Dr Matt Inada-Kim, Consultant in Acute Medicine at Hampshire Hospitals NHS Trust, and Dr Caroline O'Keeffe who runs oximetry@home in North Hampshire.
And the hotly debated topic of rapid, or lateral flow, testing. Local councils are rolling them out for people who can't work from home, and the hope is that they could help us keep on top of the virus by picking out people with Covid. Could it be a way out of the pandemic or could it cause more harm than good? Prof Irene Petersen and our own Dr Margaret McCartney are on the case.
Dr Navjoyt Ladher answers some of the most common questions about vaccines.
PRESENTER: James Gallagher PRODUCER: Beth Eastwood
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello, I'm Greg Jenna and good news, Your Dead to Me is back for a new series. Here we go. Yes, we'll explore Emperor Nero's notorious reign with Professor Marybeard and Patton Oswald. I would not want my daughter having the remote control, not alone an empire. We'll dissect the decadent life of Philippe Duke-Dor-Leon with Tom Allen. I've often tried to pretend I'm an aristocrat and being very quickly knocked down. |
| 0:23.0 | And there'll be so much more with comedians like Olga Koch, Mike Mosniak and Rihalina. |
| 0:26.9 | I'm excited. |
| 0:27.6 | You're dead to me, the comedy podcast that takes history seriously. |
| 0:30.9 | Listen first on BBC Sounds. |
| 0:34.4 | BBC Sounds, music, radio podcasts. |
| 0:38.0 | Hello and welcome to the Inside Health podcast. |
| 0:41.2 | I'm James Galaher, and I'm about to do a rapid test for COVID. |
| 0:47.3 | Here comes the swabbing. |
| 0:49.7 | So just get out of a sterile swab. |
| 0:51.7 | I did wash my hands and then alcohol gel them just before. |
| 0:56.0 | So here we go. Up the nose. This is never pleasant head back in an inch or so until it stops. |
| 1:05.0 | Right. You just have to bear with you for about 10 seconds of gripping radio as I twirl this around in the first nostril and then |
| 1:13.3 | I'm going to switch it over. Do you know what? I'm not going to put you through any more of that. |
| 1:17.7 | But earlier today, I did one of those rapid or lateral flow tests. They're being rolled out by |
| 1:23.4 | local councils. Some employers are giving them to their staff too. My result was negative, |
| 1:30.3 | but later on Inside Health we're going to find out what that really means. But first, here's |
| 1:35.4 | something completely different. |
| 1:37.8 | How to use a pulse oxymeter. |
| 1:43.6 | One, remove any nail polish or false nails and warm your hand if cold. |
| 1:50.0 | 2. Rest for at least 5 minutes before taking your measurement. |
| 1:55.0 | A pulse oxymeter slips over one of your fingers and it tells you what the oxygen levels are inside your blood. |
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