1. EMERGENCY MEDICAL TECHNICIAN - BASIC
4/17/2017
VITAL SIGNS
EMERGENCY MEDICAL TECHNICIAN - BASIC
Temple College EMS Program
Temple College EMSP

2. Vital Signs
Vital signs are an outward clue to what is going on in the patient’s body
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3. Vital Signs
Baseline Vital Signs provide a basis for comparison of later sets of VitalSigns
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4. Vital Signs
It is important to monitor “trends” in Vital Signs rather than individual sets of Vital Signs
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5. Pulse Pulse Points Carotid Brachial Radial Femoral Popliteal
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6. Pulse Pulse Points Dorsal Pedal Posterior Tibial
(Posterior and slightly inferior to medial Malleolus)
Pulse Points
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7. Pulse Rate Adult Child Infant 60-80 Beats/minute 80-110 Beats/minute
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8. Pulse
Rhythm
Regular
Irregular
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9. Pulse
Quality
Full
Weak (Thready)
Bounding
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10. Respirations Rate Adult Child 12-24 Resp/min 20-28 Resp/min
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11. Respirations Rate Infant 30-70 Resp/min @ birth 30 Resp/min @ 6 months
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12. Respirations
Rhythm
Regular
Irregular
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13. Respiration Quality Full Deep Shallow Labored Noisy
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14. Blood Pressure
Systolic - Pressure on the arterial wall when the heart contracts
Diastolic - Pressure on the arterial wall when the heart is at rest
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15. Blood Pressure
Auscultated BP - Listening for both the systolic and diastolic values
Palpated BP - Feeling for the systolic pressure
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16. Auscultated Blood Pressure
Adult
Male
100+ Age (up to 50) 80
Female
90 + Age (up to 50
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17. Auscultated Blood Pressure
Child
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18. Auscultated Blood Pressure
Infant
At Birth
At 6 Months 90
40-76
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19. Estimating Blood Pressure
Radial Pulse Present?
>80 Systolic
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20. Estimating Blood Pressure
Femoral Pulse Present?
>70 Systolic
<80 Systolic
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21. Estimating Blood Pressure
Carotid Pulse Present?
>60 Systolic
<70 Systolic
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22. Vital Signs DO NOT TREAT NUMBERS - - - - - - TREAT PEOPLE!!!!
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