COPDer...Hmmm
Well, I would have to say, and I am willing to argue, if a person is in severe resp distress....Give them O2. That would be by NRB, no matter the Hx. Sure COPDers rely on their hypoxic drive to breathe. But one must realize that if they are truly SOB their PO2 will be significantly lower than what it should be. O2 will not hurt for the amount of time you will be with the pt. It will help. I would guess that no one is going to be with these people for hrs, so there is no need to worry. That is what it would take to knock out their hypoxic drive. And who really cares if you did....Bag them and fix it. It is not that bad of a problem.....Maybe if you intubate them it will cause problems, that is much more invasive than you need....And besides, I challenge someone, with out exagerating, to tell me a time that a NRB actually caused someone not to breathe.
The whole hypoxic drive theory causes way to much worry. We all know that as soon as we get to the hospital, regardless of how low the PO2 is that the nurse will take off the NRB and put on a NC because she will be worried about it. They are the same people who see an SPO2 of 45% and believe it. And we all should know that this is not conducive to life....peripheral constriction anyone????