This book assimilates the latest information on blood gases and electrolytes that the author has accumulated and updated from over a decade of preparing workshops, seminars, and study guides on these topics. The book is for laboratorians, caregivers, and those in industry who want to develop or add to their clinical understanding and interpretations of results for blood gases, calcium, magnesium, phosphate, sodium, potassium, bicarbonate, and chloride in blood. The book addresses the definition and functions of each of these analytes, the biochemical and physiological processes that lead to clinical alterations in their concentrations in blood, a step-wise approach for organizing blood gas and clinical data that facilitates interpretation and understanding of even complex mixed acid-base disorders, guidelines for assessing the oxygenation status in blood, and proper sample conditions and the pitfalls to avoid in specimen collection, transport, and processing. In addition, numerous cases and self-assessment questions reinforce the concepts presented in the text. This book should serve as your single reference for issues related to blood gases and electrolytes.