Patient Monitor

Hi all,

Looking for suggestions, I'd like to add a patient monitor to my setup and I want to know what are some good models to look for and roughly what I should expect to spend. Open to new or used, I'm no stranger to eBay 😃

I'd like a unit that does temp, BP, PulseOx, and EKG. Ideally I'd want all of those stats, but primary goal here is that wonderful beep for the patient's heartrate, so we can hear it climb as they get more aroused or nervous.

I've seen units on Amazon that are no-name brands, not sure if there's any value in what they're offering, but I found one unit that does what I want (supposedly) for $500: https://www.amazon.com/funwill-6-Parameter-Patient-Monitor-Shipping/dp/B07LFCWXC7/

Thanks in advance for any advice you can share!

That device on amazon looks like an expensive toy/wannabee medical device and the Funwill company selling it doesn't exactly sound or look like a medical device company from its website.

We have a Nonin 7500 pulse oximeter and a Welch Allyn ProBP 2400 blood pressure monitor. These instruments are the real McCoy. The Nonin 7500 was about $1500 and the Welch Allyn ProBP2400 was about $700 with a few accessories like extra battery and AC power connection.

I discussed using them here a few years ago:

https://en.zity.biz/index.php?mx=forum;ox=display;topic=96712

You should also get a blood glucose monitor. They are cheap and easy to use. It also lets you make your patient bleed every few hours. 😈

Haha, I should have mentioned I had already found your post in my searches, but thanks for sharing it again ?

I agree, the link I shared from Amazon seemed too good to be true, I'm glad we came to the same conclusion! Just a shame the good stuff is so expensive, I was hoping to come in around $500 or less for this since it's more for the theatrics than actual medical monitoring. I'll have to check eBay, see if I can get better prices on the gear you mentioned.

From your story, you mention the pulseox alarm, does that unit have a standard pulse beep for the heartbeat? That's probably the most important piece for me since this is for the roleplay; I and my patients want to hear that heart rate speed up as things get more interesting ?

If you head over to Ebay, you can find a bunch of used equipment. GE has stopped supporting a number of their Dash monitors, so many places are replacing them with nothing wrong with them.

I picked up a Dash 3000 for parts for the ones at work ($100 for the whole thing vs. $1500 for one part replacement). You just need to look for one that will have all the cables for you - but $500 seems reasonable.

I would also recommend finding surplus FDA approved/UL or CE listed equipment vs. some made in China knock off. Any patient monitors that are supplied by utility power should be biomed (safety) tested before attaching them to a person. By design, they should be safe, but unless you are buying from a qualified refurb company, you have no idea what a given piece of equipment has been through. Voltage leakage in medical monitoring equipment is a very real, and potentially deadly, risk.