panel 101 has a sensor port 110 parameter displays 120 a speaker 130 control buttons 140 a panel light 150 and a status light 160 the sensor port 110 accepts a patient cable 30 fig1 connector so as to communicate with a sensor 20 fig1 the parameter displays 120 provide numerical readouts of measured blood parameters such as oxygen saturation spo 2 pulse rate bpm and total hemoglobin the speaker 130 provides for example an audio indication of alarms the control buttons 140 provide user control and selection of monitor features including power on off 141 sensitivity 142 brightness 143 display 145 alarm silence 147 and alarm limits 148 and allow input of a configuration profile via up and down scrolling 149 and enter 144 buttons an alarm status light 135 indicates high priority alarms as shown in fig1 b the monitor top panel 102 has an lcd display 170 as shown in fig1 c the monitor back panel 103 provides a power entry module 181 a serial output connector 182 a nurse call connector 183 and a ground connector 184 fig1 d illustrates a vertical monitor 109 embodiment of the monitor 100 described with respect to fig1 and fig1 a c above fig1 illustrates a tri level monitor user interface that utilizes front panel buttons keys to navigate through the menu selections advantageously monitor settings that are typically adjusted most often for patient monitoring level 1 are segregated from settings typically adjusted less often level 2 level 1 and level 2 settings are.