(PC-1211) Acute Respiratory Care

[SlideRule]

An excerpt from Critical Care Quarterly, Acute Respiratory Care Update, Clinical application of the hand-held computer in respiratory intensive care, volume 6/number 2, September 1983, pages 85-91

Use of computers in intensive care units has expanded from the early introduction of remote, mainframe computers dedicated to the acquisition of physiological data to the application of desk-top microprocessor-based computers (microcomputers) for critical care calculations and physiologic profiles. Concurrently, the availability of inexpensive programmable calculators has generated a diverse group of programs …
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… hand-held computers are inexpensive and portable, they are programmed in keystroke logic …
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… Use of the new generation of HHCs offers an exciting alternative to large stationary computer systems. The HHC may be programmed for multiple and varied tasks and can be unobtrusively applied at the bedside for physiologic calculations, logical decision making, and most importantly, teaching purposes.
DESCRIPTION OF HHC
  The first generation HHC (Radio Shack TRS-80 PC-1 or Sharp PC-1211) …
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PROGRAM DESCRIPTION
  This program illustrates how the HHC may be used to perform mathematical computations and assist with critical care decision making. The program described here will calculate HCO₃‒, arterial/alveolar PO₂ (a/A PO₂), and an estimated ratio of dead-space ventilation (V_D/V_T). The program will calculate the fraction of inspired O₂ (FiO₂) needed for a desired PO₂, and the respiratory rate needed for a desired PCO₂. The program will also interpret acid-base status. Finally, for documentation, the program will provide a hard copy printout of patient identification data, entered data, calculated data, and the acid-base interpretation. Although this program can be used for any arterial blood gas, it is especially useful when used with arterial blood gas results from a patient on a mechanical ventilator.
  The input variables are shown in the boxed material on page 88. The formulas and equations used in the program are described in Table 1. For a complete listing of the program, see Figure 2. To observe available program memory, many abbreviations are used.
  This program can be used with or without a printer (line 2). …
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Typical program output is illustrated in the boxed material on page 90. … The respiratory intensive care program listed here is but one version of a multitude of medical applications programs now well within the reach of all critical care practitioners.
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[dm319]

Great find. Just this week I was looking for my Aa gradient calculator to get an idea of just how bad someone's lungs were. I might look at translating some of this to my DM42. Oddly it must have seemed that everyone in medicine would be using calculators of some sort in clinical practice in just a few years time but that isn't really the case, even with the convenience of app calculators widely available on android and ios. I tend to use them for scoring systems I have forgotten, but reflecting on it I find it interesting that we don't do much 'calculating' other than the ones using biological neural networks.