New Town provides pulse oximeters

Kolkata: New Town Kolkata Development Authority (NKDA) that has handed over pulse oximeters to a number of housing societies in New Town on rent and has received feedback of 760 persons being screened by the equipment.

Two of them whose oxygen level has been found to be low is presently in home quarantine with doctors monitoring

their health conditions time to time.

A person whose oxygen level was found to be low for five to six days at a stretch

was provided with medicines and has now recovered completely.

"It was some ten days back when it was decided that we will use pulse oximeters besides thermal gun for screening people. We procured twenty pulse oximeters and gave on loan to housing societies who wanted them. Preference was given to those where some confinement is going on. The equipment is also being given to

survey teams who do fever survey to not only check the temperature but also oxygen levels," said a senior NKDA official.

Covid tests are being conducted as per advise of the doctors after scanning through thermal gun and pulse oximeter. The decision for using the equipment was taken after doctors said that they were finding some asymptomatic patients with alarmingly low levels of oxygen saturation. Low oxygen saturation level may

lead to sudden medical emergencies.

Pulse oximeter is a small, lightweight device used to monitor the amount of oxygen carried in the body. Saturation level below 95 per cent needs medical attention.