How to Take Blood Pressure by Hand

Learn how to take a blood pressure reading by hand. You may not always have a stethoscope available. Digital blood pressure machines may fail. Sometimes it is impossible to hear a pulse if blood pressure is extremely low, heart rate is rapid or vascular disease is present. Health care personnel are trained to take blood pressure by hand in emergencies to facilitate rapid response. You will need a traditional blood pressure cuff with a sphygmomanometer to take a blood pressure by hand.

Things You'll Need

• Blood pressure cuff with sphygmomanometer

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Instructions

• 1

  Place the blood pressure cuff above the crook of the elbow, or just above the wrist if the blood pressure cuff is too small to comfortably fit around the upper arm. Blood pressure cuffs are marked for proper placement. Wrap it snugly in preparation for taking a blood pressure reading by hand.

• 2

  Check for a pulse in the wrist or on inside of the elbow, closest to the body (medial aspect of the antecubital space), depending on where you have placed the blood pressure cuff. You will take your blood pressure reading by hand in the exact spot you felt the pulse, so keep your fingers there.

• 3

  Once you have palpated a pulse, inflate the blood pressure cuff, being careful not to apply too much pressure. You only need to inflate the blood pressure cuff until the pulse disappears. You are now ready to find the systolic blood pressure by hand.

• 4

  Slowly deflate the blood pressure cuff, keeping your hand in the exact spot where you originally felt a pulse. Watch the blood pressure gauge (sphygmomanometer) closely and deflate the cuff slowly. When you feel the pulse, note the number obtained while taking a blood pressure by hand.

• 5

  Correlate the return of the pulse felt with your hand with the location of the needle on the blood pressure gauge. Once the pulse is felt, you can completely deflate the blood pressure cuff. The blood pressure you have obtained is the systolic blood pressure. You cannot ascertain the bottom number, or diastolic blood pressure reading, by hand, otherwise known as palpating a blood pressure. In medical records, the reading would be displayed as follows: number/P (e.g. l20/P), with P indicating the blood pressure was taken by hand or palpated.