Cardiac Output

80 year old patient altered mental status, altered breathing, possible aspiration. You can hear the rhonci from the doorway. DNR, supportive care only. Staff at Nursing home says patient's pulse - 112, BP 160/100.

Here's the quick look.

RR - 32 ETCO2 -14

We couldn't feel a pulse or get a BP.

Here's his ECG:

Certainly helps illustrate the case for ETCO2 as a measure of cardiac output.

At the hospital his PH was 7.1. They called his doctor and family to see how aggressive they wanted him treated, and ended up trying to pace him, which didn't work until after they gave him calcium. It seems he was extremely hyperkalemic. I would have liked to have seen what his ETCO2 did when they finally got a pressure. When we saw him an hour later he was still puffing away, trying to blow off CO2.