Monitoring the Emergency Patient

Monitoring is a routine part of emergency department (ED) care. From vital sign measurement to the provision of critical care, monitoring physiologic function provides clinicians with potentially relevant clinical information as a “snapshot” in time or in continuous fashion. In the former case, it allows for screening and triage, and in the latter, it allows for ongoing evaluation of response to treatment or changes in clinical condition. This chapter focuses on the following monitoring modalities: noninvasive blood pressure measurement, pulse oximetry, and ventilation monitoring and the use of end-tidal carbon dioxide (ETco2) measurement. Fetal monitoring after trauma and cerebral function monitoring are also briefly discussed.