References
Measuring blood pressure and monitoring patterns
Abstract
In each issue, the paramedic education team at Edge Hill University focuses on the clinical skills carried out by paramedics on the frontline, highlighting the importance of these skills and how to perform them. Here,
The term blood pressure (BP) refers to the force or pressure exerted against the walls of the blood vessels by the blood within them (Waugh et al, 2014). Commonly taken in a peripheral artery, such as the brachial artery, manual BP readings measure turbulent blood flow through an artery. Blood flow is partially compressed using a sphygmomanometer or BP cuff—and the sound of turbulence auscultated using a stethoscope (Glynn and Drake, 2018).
BP is the product of cardiac output and peripheral resistance, so it includes two components (Caroline, 2016):
Systolic pressure is the force of BP on arterial walls at the end of ventricular contraction, i.e. in systole (Tortora and Derrickson, 2017). Diastolic pressure is the force exerted by the remaining blood in the vascular system during ventricular relaxation, i.e. diastole (Tortora and Derrickson, 2017).
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