Description
HOW TO USE YOUR BLOOD PRESSURE KIT
- Sit down next to a table or other flat surface so that your left arm can rest level with your heart. Circle the left arm with the cuff midway between the shoulder and elbow and fasten it by touching the surfaces together. Make sure your garment sleeve is not too tight or that it does not interfere with the cuff. The cuff should fit comfortably-not too tight or too loose. After you have established the correct size for your arm. It will not be necessary to readjust the closure and you can slip it on and off your arm easily.
- Locate the brachial artery. It’s above the bend of the elbow when the palm is laid upwards on the table then slightly inward of the elbow in this position. Feel for its pulse with the first two fingers of your right hand. Adjust the cuff so that the tube attached to the cuff runs from this area, Place the stethoscope ear pieces in your ears and the stethoscope head under the edge of the cuff over the Brachial Artery,
- Be sure your arm is level with your heart and that the gauge is level with the heart also. Lay the gauge flat on the table. Close screw valve by turning it in clockwise direction.Inflate cuff by pumping bulb with right hand until dial registers at least 180-200mmHg.
- Using right hand, press stethoscope head firmly over brachial artery as previously located in step 2. If you hear a beat at 180-200mmg. Inflate cuff further until sound disappears completely.
- Slowly turn screw valve counter clockwise with the fingers of your left hand so the cuff deflates at a rate of 2 to 3mmHg per second. As the pressure falls, sounds become audible and pass through several changes. The first pulse sound you hear from the artery is recorded as the systolic pressure. The point at which the pulse is no longer heard is recorded as diastolic pressure.
