Simplified Arterial Blood Gases

100 pages of cartoon level respiratory physiology and pathophysiology. Typically, blood gases are taught by having students memorize relational statements like this one, If the pH is low and CO2 is high, then the condition is … This is a quick and easy method which is usually as quickly forgotten as it is learned. My approach is somewhat different. In teaching hospital CEU classes, I found that when students understood the physiology of respiration, it followed that pH, CO2 and HCO3 values made sense. This book, Simplified Arterial Blood Gases, includes the content, explanations and exercises from my course. Each page presents one concept, illustrated with a simple, light hearted cartoon. In most cases, the information on each page can be understood independently of the page before it. In this way, you won’t get lost by wading too deep into material half-understood. Read each page, absorb the material, take a breather and turn the page. This sequence, repeated over the 100 pages and you will be ready to interpret ABGs.