MEET OUR GRADUATES: Alex Ramos Sickle Cell Advocate
Since he was a little boy, BloodVitals tracker Alexander Ramos dreamt of changing into a police officer. But when he lost sight in a single eye after suffering two strokes, he had to place an finish to that dream. On the time, he was in high school and the strokes had been introduced on by a genetic disorder - sickle cell anemia. This may increasingly Ramos shall be graduating from Rhode Island College with a B.A. Though his dream of being an officer ended, his love for the authorized area remained. At the current Cap and Gown ceremony at RIC, BloodVitals tracker Ramos was honored with the Maryann Hawkes Award in Justice Studies in recognition of his excellent GPA and BloodVitals SPO2 his advocacy around improving the quality of care for individuals with sickle cell anemia. People with sickle cell anemia have abnormal crimson blood cells. Instead of being spherical, the cells are crescent-formed or sickle-formed and carry much less oxygen than typical pink blood cells.
These cells are extra exhausting and BloodVitals tracker sticky and don’t transfer as easily and smoothly via the blood vessels, which may lead to blockages. When the blood circulate is blocked, it brings on severe ache or BloodVitals tracker what is named sickle cell disaster. "These crises had been pretty frequent for me," he says. Nevertheless it wasn’t until his sophomore year at Rhode Island BloodVitals tracker College that Ramos began advocating for patients like himself. Ramos wants that to vary. There’s also an absence of sensitivity in emergency rooms toward people having a sickle cell disaster, he says. Episodes of extreme ache are a serious symptom of sickle cell anemia. The ache will be sharp, stabbing, intense, BloodVitals SPO2 or throbbing and can have an effect on any a part of the body. It may final from a few hours to a couple days. "But when sickle cell patients visit emergency rooms they’re usually accused of being drug seekers," he says. As a consequence, they experience lengthy wait occasions.
Ramos recalls as soon as arriving on the ER at noon and not being treated till two within the morning. Two years in the past he joined the Rhode Island BloodVitals tracker Sickle Cell Patient Action Committee (PAC). "We’re a bunch of sickle cell patients who are advocating for change within the Rhode Island healthcare system and, by extension, the national healthcare system," he says. "A few years ago when the group was getting began, I took Professor Mikaila Arthur’s "Disability and Justice" class and did a project where I created a call-to-motion letter addressed to Lifespan, which is now Brown University Health. It described the problems patients have been having in the ER. I advised ways to enhance care for patients. I sought PAC’s help in drafting the letter. The response was positive. "Since then, there have been reviews from patients both in and outside of PAC who've reported higher care," he says. "I myself have noticed improvements in things like wait instances. Recently I went to the ER and was capable of get handled within a few hours.
PAC is at present working on ER passports. This can be a bodily card that sickle cell patients can take with them to the ER that has their identify, condition and their typical care plan on it. As well as, Ramos and his hematologist incessantly make presentations on the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University. Their goal is to specific to future docs the significance of getting a clear understanding of the symptoms and needs of sickle cell patients. Through the Maryann Hawkes Award in Justice Studies, the complete faculty commend Ramos’ passionate willpower to inspire group assist around sickle cell anemia and his tireless effort to bring about laws that will guarantee higher care, research and insurance policies throughout the healthcare system. "I met Alex when he was a pupil in my Justice and Disability course," says Professor Mikaila Arthur. "I was immediately impressed by his perception, intelligence and dedication to building a greater world.
Certain constituents in the blood affect the absorption of gentle at various wavelengths by the blood. Oxyhemoglobin absorbs mild extra strongly within the infrared region than in the purple region, whereas hemoglobin exhibits the reverse conduct. Therefore, highly oxygenated blood with a high concentration of oxyhemoglobin and a low focus of hemoglobin will are likely to have a high ratio of optical transmissivity within the pink area to optical transmissivity in the infrared area. These alternating portions are amplified after which segregated by sampling gadgets working in synchronism with the purple/infrared switching, in order to supply separate alerts on separate channels representing the crimson and infrared gentle transmission of the body structure. After low-cross filtering to take away signal components at or above the switching frequency, each of the separate signals represents a plot of optical transmissivity of the physique structure at a selected wavelength versus time. AC part triggered solely by optical absorption by the blood and varying at the pulse frequency or coronary heart fee of the organism.