Tips on taking manual blood pressures?
Hi friends! I want to start off by saying, I was born and raised in the medical field. Mom’s a retired nurse, and dad has been in and out of hospitals for as long as I can remember.
Recently, it’s been brought to my attention that my partners at work have had some discrepancies with my manual blood pressures, and I’m not quite sure what to do. I take my manuals the same way every time. The same way I learned in EMT and medic school. The same way I learned in CNA school. The same way I learned when I was learning how to help take care of my sick dad.
I have the patient relax their arm completely, size the cuff appropriately so that the artery marker falls within the range marker, make sure the artery marker is over the brachial artery, place the bell of my stethoscope over the brachial but not directly under the cuff, inflate until I hear the pulse stop, inflate 20-30 mmHg more than where I hear it stop, then deflate, with the systolic being where I first hear the pulse again and diastolic when I lose it.
When my first EMS partner mentioned the discrepancies, I figured it was because I was using a cheap $25 stethoscope that I used in school, so I upgraded (very long overdue) to a Littman. My current partner just brought the same issue to my attention yesterday, and I just don’t know what the problem is or how to fix it.
Any advice??