Interpretation of arterial blood gas results

At the end of this module participants will be able to:

• Understand the purpose of an arterial blood gas.
• Identify the different components of an arterial blood gas including pH balance, PaO2, PaCO2, bicarbonate, and base excess, or deficit.
• Describe pH balance, normal pH of human blood, acidosis, and alkalosis.
• Understand the 3 ways that pH balance is maintained in the human body: pH buffering, respiratory, and renal response.
• Understand how the body compensates in response to acidosis or alkalosis.
• Practice putting it all together to interpret an arterial blood gas.