There are several types of anesthesia monitors and other equipment in use. There are monitors that control the flow of anesthesia gases to the patient and monitors that assess other devices in use such as IV fluid pumps. In addition, monitors are needed to record and display the patient’s heart beat, respirations, blood pressure and temperature. These are called the vital signs because they are a good basic assessment of a person’s condition.
Another monitor used in the operating room measures what is called the CVP or central venous pressure and this is attached to a special kind of IV line Anesthesia monitors also include an EKG readout that not only shows the pulse or heart rate but also the wave forms to see if the electrical activity is normal. All of these monitoring devices have alarms that can be set to warning levels of whatever they are monitoring.
There may be some concern about buying used equipment, but most of it is purchased from the same companies that make and sell new equipment. It is inspected and reconditioned before being resold and will come with a warranty much like a new monitor, making them safe as well as cost effective.
