Meaning of hard time

What is a peak flowmeter?

This is a small tube with a graduated scale that measures the maximum airflow rate during exhalation.

The manipulation itself is called peak flowmetry.

What is peak flowmetry and what is it for?

Many patients suffering from chronic non-pulmonary diseases have equipment that helps them control certain indicators (pulse rate, blood pressure, blood sugar level). Depending on their values, a person can control his treatment. People with high blood pressure always have a tonometer at home, those with diabetes have a glucometer. And what about a person suffering from bronchial asthma? How can he control his condition. You can, of course, rely on your own feelings, but this is not reliable. Increased attacks of shortness of breath, increased coughing, increased shortness of breath. A person begins to notice all these signs of exacerbation of bronchial asthma when the exacerbation is in full swing and its treatment requires great effort and a significant increase in doses of drugs.

There is an exit. For people suffering from bronchial asthma, a simple device has been invented to help control the condition of the bronchi and take the necessary measures in time. This means starting treatment earlier with lower doses of drugs and preventing the development of a severe exacerbation. This is the same graduated tube that we talked about, and which is called a peak flowmeter.

The peak flow meter shows the highest speed at which air can pass through the airways during the most forceful exhalation. This means that it allows you to assess the degree of narrowing of the bronchi and the degree of their expansion when taking medications.

Peak flowmetry is a method of self-monitoring of the course of bronchial asthma.

How is peak flow measurement performed correctly?

Peak flowmetry is performed twice a day: in the morning immediately after getting up from bed before taking medications and in the evening before bedtime.

• Set the peak flow meter slider to zero.
• Place your lips tightly around the mouthpiece
• Do not cover the vents on the back of the appliance with your hand
• Take a calm breath and exhalation as strong and sharp as possible
• Move the slider back and repeat these steps two more times
• Record the best of the three values ​​in your diary

How should peak flow measurements be evaluated?

The expiratory rate is calculated individually, taking into account gender, age and height.

To simplify peak expiratory flow (PEF) estimation, the "Traffic Light" principle is used, where readings are divided into zones that correspond to the colors of the traffic light: green, yellow, and red.

Green zone. Normal indicator. It signals that asthma is under control. There are no severe symptoms of asthma, the patient is physically active, has no problems sleeping and can take medication as usual. PVA scores in the green zone are between 80% and 100% of your best values.

Yellow zone. Incipient exacerbation indicator. At the same time, peak flow measurements are in the range from 50% to 80% of your best PSV values. Most likely, you may experience attacks of shortness of breath, coughing, wheezing, requiring additional intake of inhalers or prescription of other drugs. Be sure to contact your doctor.

Red zone. This is an alarm. In the red zone, PSV values ​​are in the interval below 50% of your best values. Most likely, a severe exacerbation of the disease begins. Contact your doctor immediately.

If you are constantly seen by a pulmonologist, then most often the doctor explains in advance what needs to be done when the peak flow readings go into the yellow or red zone, says which inhaler dose should be increased or what should be added to the ongoing therapy.

How to calculate normal expiratory flow rates?

The best expiratory flow rates are calculated in the absence of asthma symptoms on the same peak flow meter that you constantly use. The best peak flow measurement should be multiplied by 0.8. For example, if you have the best value of peak flowmetry - 400, you need to multiply 400 by 0.8, the result is 320. Any value above 320 will refer to the green zone, which means normal bronchial patency. To determine the boundaries of the yellow zone, you need to multiply your best indicator (for example, 400) by 0.5, the result (200) will be the lower limit of the yellow zone, and we already know the upper limit (previously calculated value), i.e. the yellow zone in our example will be between 200 and 320 l/min. All indicators below 200 will belong to the red zone.

Heavy fighting: Russian troops and volunteer Cossacks break through the defenses of Ugledar | Articles

Quite recently, at the beginning of November, Russian units liberated the village of Pavlovka in the Vuglodar direction. Now the allied forces continue the offensive, but the enemy is putting up stubborn resistance. The Ugledar direction is one of the most important in the NVO zone. Therefore, it is not surprising that such heavy battles are taking place here. Izvestia visited the advanced positions of Russian volunteers in the Ugledar region, saw the work of mortarmen, went to positions together with scouts and got acquainted with the work of sniper units.

Let's move forward

The Vuhledar direction is now one of the hottest places on the Donbass front. Now here are the heaviest battles. Units and subunits of the Russian Armed Forces, volunteer battalions, detachments of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the People's Militia of the Donetsk Republic are making their way to a strategically important goal - the city of Ugledar.

This is important for several reasons. Firstly, the liberation of the occupied territories of the DPR will be able to secure large cities and stop shelling civilians. Secondly, advancement in this direction will expand the belt of the land "corridor" to the Crimea. And, thirdly, there are large energy supply nodes in the Ugledar region. Their release will make it possible to normalize life in many regions of the republic.

Photo: Izvestia/Aleksey Ramm

The battles near Ugledar have their own peculiarities. In contrast to the Avdeevka direction, there are quite a few settlements here, in military terms - low urbanization. Between the villages there are fields separated by dense forest belts, therefore open flat spaces where there are no natural shelters, lead to the appearance of a large distance between positions - the so-called gray zone.

Troops are massing in forest belts and small settlements, setting up defense lines and shelters there. And between advances there is a continuous war of artillery and special forces entering the gray zone. In such conditions, the enemy's advantage was the pre-prepared defensive structures, which began to be erected there during the battle for Mariupol.

— Novomikhailovka is ahead of us now. The enemy has serious fortified areas there, - explains the ataman of the Terek Cossack army, Cossack General Vitaly Kuznetsov. - We are moving a little slowly, but we are moving forward confidently. A lot of mercenaries. The weapons and trophies that we find indicate that all NATO states are here.

Gray War

Scouts of the volunteer Cossack battalion "Terek" work directly in the gray zone. Their main task is to occupy an observation post as discreetly as possible for the enemy. Further, various reconnaissance technical means and, of course, quadrocopters come into play. "Reconnaissance" monitor the actions of the enemy, induce artillery fire and air strikes.

But the gray area does not belong to anyone. Therefore, at any moment, the scouts can meet with the Ukrainian "colleagues". It happens that the enemy sets up ambushes for our fighters, so we have to work as hard as possible and be ready to take the fight at any moment.

Scouts of the volunteer Cossack battalion "Terek"

Photo: Izvestiya/Aleksey Ramm

We go out with the reconnaissance group "Terek" to one of the observation points. Of course, this is not the hottest place. But here, too, it is necessary to act as collectively and discreetly as possible. We get to the place by pickup truck. Further on foot. The front deuce inspects the position in the destroyed house. It must be admitted that the enemy rarely comes here physically, but he can detect it with technical means of reconnaissance and immediately launch an artillery strike, so precautions are not superfluous here.

We enter the room. The machine gunner immediately takes his place. Now his task is to ensure the safety of the group. After a short meeting, two fighters - the crew of drones - deploy the control panel and prepare the "quad".

“We have a fairly wide fleet of quadrocopters,” a reconnaissance fighter with the call sign Ufa will explain. — We usually use MAVIC. For more complex tasks - MATRIS with a thermal imager. There are also small "minis" (model MINI by DJI. - Izvestia). "Miniki" is good to use when inspecting the object before the assault.

Now the scouts are beginning to correct the fire of the mortar battery of the Terek battalion.

Silent Death

Another inhabitant of the gray zone of Ugledar are snipers. Russian and Ukrainian high-precision shooters every day conduct an invisible battle in the forest plantations and the ruins of the villages around Ugledar.

The Terek Battalion pays special attention to the training and equipment of snipers. We are invited to the location of the sniper squad. Of course, all interlocutors are wearing masks. Their identities are one of the best kept secrets of any unit or military unit.

As one of the snipers explains, preparing a man who just knows how to shoot is not so difficult. But such a skill will not make the shooter a real sniper.

Terek battalion snipers

Photo: Izvestiya/Aleksey Ramm

- Both results (of fire damage) and information matter. A sniper is not only a shooter, he is an observer, - says a fighter with the call sign Perekos.

In the room we are shown the main instruments and weapons. All rifles are from the best manufacturers, with individual tuning. An excellent set of special equipment: night sights, a thermal imager, rangefinders, weather sensors. In the working language of snipers, this is called the instrument group.

The Terek snipers are getting ready to leave. The commander with the call sign Perekos is very restrained and concise. On the electronic map, he works out with the fighters the route and area of ​​their work, the entrance and exit, and other important details. Checks the property, condition and composition of the instrument group. In the gray zone, you can only rely on yourself. Therefore, there are no trifles in the equipment here.

As Perekos explains, a sniper's equipment can weigh more than 25 kg, and that's without sniper systems and additional weapons. Now the fighters take two sniper rifles to the task. They are neatly packaged in a case and case. For close combat, snipers are additionally armed with AKS-74U assault rifles.

Before the NWO in Ukraine, they liked to claim that they were creating a mass sniper movement. Propaganda glorified citizens who allegedly bought rifles and threatened the Russian army with "shooting from every window." But such "arrows", according to the apt definition of our interlocutor, "ended very quickly." To date, the enemy does not have an overwhelming advantage - on the contrary, it often becomes the target of our professionals

Tactics justify

At the positions of the mortarmen of the Terek battalion, at first glance you understand where you are.

Battalion scouts with quadcopters are now working ahead, looking for targets. In the meantime, the gunners are waiting for information and making calculations, there is time to look around and talk. With a mortar release cord, Daring is waiting for the command. Earplugs and well-fitted equipment make him a seasoned soldier. And the hat shifted to one side, twisted mustaches and a large earring leave no doubt: we have a Cossack in front of us.

Mortar fighter with callsign Derzkiy

Photo: Izvestia/Aleksey Ramm

- According to custom, the only son of his mother, when he goes to work, puts an earring in the left ear. It is immediately clear that a Cossack... Our ancestors were worried that the family would be preserved, They were put somewhere far away, in convoys, in guard. But times are changing, and today we are here at the forefront,” Derzky explains.

He became a mortar man recently, at the beginning of the NWO. But he has been fighting since 2014 - in the 4th brigade of the People's Militia of the Luhansk Republic, which is also traditionally considered Cossack.

The command sounds: "Hang a mine." The loader lowers the ammunition into the barrel, and on the command “fire”, Daring fires a shot. We are waiting for corrections from the scouts and move on to rhythmic shooting.

Experienced fighters work quickly and accurately. After each shot, the aiming is restored: the mortar “walks” a little in the wet ground.

Crew commander Amur explains: the fire is on another Ukrainian fortified area. The tactics of artillery pressure, which the Russian troops oppose to the Ukrainian engineering fortifications, justify themselves here as well.

From experience, we already know how long it will take the Ukrainians to return fire. After disguising the mortar, the crews descend into shelters, and we leave our positions. The first Ukrainian shell falls in the area in a minute. But it's too late. If up to this point the enemy could not "feel" a working mortar, this time it will no longer be found.

In the meantime, we have to start running - we need to get to the car as quickly as possible.

"People like me"

- From the first days of the special military operation, many Cossacks of the Terek army were the first to go to the combat zone, - tells us the ataman of the Terek Cossack army, Cossack General Vitaly Kuznetsov. - And in July it was decided to create a Cossack battalion "Terek". People are trained at the training grounds for a month, they are well equipped. Today, our division is one of the best equipped with automotive and special equipment. Only reserve officers with combat experience of local conflicts among the personnel - more than 40 people.

Photo: Izvestiya/Aleksey Ramm

Volunteer Cossack unit is distinguished by the age of the soldiers - many are already over 40. But this is more than compensated by combat experience and training. In addition, everyone we talked to says that in such a team there are much fewer problems with adapting to life on the front line, and most importantly, there are fewer psychological difficulties that inexperienced soldiers face during the first shelling and battles.

Among the fighters we meet veterans of local conflicts, former army special forces and other experienced people. Among all, Kedr stands out - he is already over 65 years old, of which he spent 40 "calendars" in the service. Afghanistan became the first war of Cedar.

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