Instructions for the Piko-1 Meter

When to take the readings

The readings should be taken regularly, whether at work or not. The readings should be taken on waking and then approximately at two hourly intervals until you go to bed. Also, do extra readings when and if you have symptoms. It is Important that you write down the times that you start and finish work each day.

Instructions

1. Stand or sit in good posture.
2. Press the button once to turn the meter on.
3. Press the button once to let the meter know you are about to do a blow, the screen will change to look like this:
   
4. Take a deep breath – as deep as possible
5. Hold the meter horizontally, taking care not to obstruct the vent holes, as shown below. If you are getting unusually high readings (especially 999) then you are probably covering the vent holes with your fingers.
   
6. Place the mouthpiece into your mouth and close your lips around it tightly.
7. Blow out, as fast and as hard as possible, for at least two seconds.
8. Make a note of your PEF reading. The meter alternates between showing the PEF and the FEV1 reading every couple of seconds. "PEF" is shown on the screen when the PEF reading is displayed and the number will not have a decimal point in it.
9. Repeat 3) to 8) three or more times, until the highest two readings are within 20.
10. Write down the highest of your three readings onto the chart. The meter will turn off automatically after a short time.

If you need to take your inhaler when it is time to carry out a peak flow reading, do the blow first, then take your inhaler. If you forget to take a reading, take one immediately and then go on to the next one as usual.

The meter keeps your blows in memory. However, the memory can only hold about 1 week of blows and sometimes the memory is lost (flat battery, computer crash etc), so please write down all your blows. If you forget your chart please continue to take readings.

Make sure you keep a photocopy of the charts in case they are lost in the post. Please remember to write down your name, job and date on All of the charts provided, in case they are separated.

Thank you for your assistance.

Comments

how do you set the reference values PEF & FEV1? how do you find what values are for you? please help jimbopil

9/24/2008

You will probably need to see a doctor to find out your predicted values for PEF and FEV1. The values are based on your age, height, race and sex. I don't tend to use the reference values on the Piko 1, as it takes quite a while to set. The following is an extract from the user manual. 1. Press the operate button quickly - 4 times during 2 seconds, The PEF or FEV1 indication will start blinking. The display will show the stored reference value. 2. Each further press of the button will advance the display by 10 l/min for PEF or 0.1 l for FEV1. 3. Hold the button down for more than 5 seconds to save the desired reference value. The PEF or FEV1 indicator will stop blinking a a bleep will sound. 4. The display will briefly show the new reference value and return to show the last test results. Note that during the reference setting processs, if the button is not pressed for 5 seconds the Piko-1 will exit the setting mode without modifying the old reference value. The memory can be cleared by setting the reference value to 10 l/min (for PEF) or 0.1 l (for FEV1). The actual reference value is not changed in this case.

9/24/2008