as a graph of spo 2 in relation to peep versus time in an alternative embodiment an oximeter display or monitor displays oximeter and ventilator information such as a graph of spo 2 in relation to peep versus time in another embodiment display 59 further displays oximeter and ventilator information such as a graph of spo 2 in relation to peep and fio 2 versus time in an alternative embodiment an oximeter display or monitor displays oximeter and ventilator information such as a graph of spo 2 in relation to peep and fio 2 versus time as illustrated in fig2 a and 2b an embodiment of a method 200 for managing the ventilation of a patient being ventilated by a medical ventilator is shown method 200 performs a patient monitoring operation 202 the patient monitoring operation 202 utilizes an oximeter to monitor the status of a patient during ventilation the oximeter is operatively coupled to the controller of the ventilation system next method 200 performs a spo 2 monitoring operation 204 the spo 2 monitoring operation 204 determines the spo 2 of the patient from patient data gathered by patient monitoring operation 202 the spo 2 monitoring operation 204 can be performed by the oximeter and or the ventilator by utilizing oximeter sensor readings to monitor the spo 2 of the patient further method 200 performs a peep monitoring operation 206 the peep monitoring operation 206 monitors the peep of the patient during ventilation the peep monitoring operation 206 may monitor the peep of the patient with one or more flow and or pressure sensors depending on the configuration of the ventilator the reading from the flow and or.