Climbing is truly the ultimate extreme sport that requires the utmost level of physical fitness and endurance. These individuals devote their lives to not only conquering their goals but also expanding their physical fitness to levels that are not quite seen in the general society. One of the main goals of all mountain climbers is to actually climb Mt. Everest which really seems to be the ultimate and pinnacle of all these climbers to conquer. However there is a very important health concern that does affect these athletes which in effect is called hypoxia. Hypoxia is a medical condition that occurs at high altitudes when the body is not able to get enough oxygen. When this occurs then the person is at the risk of not getting enough oxygen in their tissues and as such their tissues may actually begin to die. It is critically important to monitor the oxygen levels when your at extreme altitudes in order to ensure that you do not run the risk of getting hypoxia. A medical device that is used by mountain climbers to actually monitor their oxygen levels is a pulse oximeter. This device is specifically made to withstand the natural conditions of mountain climbing at high altitudes and also to measure the oxygen levels of the climber. The individual climber places their finger inside the device and within seconds they get a reading of their oxygen levels and based on that reading they can determine if they need supplemental oxygen in order to prevent hypoxia. The use of supplemental oxygen is critical to preventing this medical condition because it will supplement the body’s own lack of oxygen intake and as such it is vitally important. However, for these climbers they need to know exactly when to take the oxygen and that is why a
oximeter will warn them when their oxygen levels are running dangerously low.
