How to Trick the Aneroid Sphygmomanometer

An aneroid sphygmomanometer, also known as a blood pressure cuff, allows health care providers to measure a patient's blood pressure. Each blood pressure cuff should be tested prior to its use on patients. One way to check the blood pressure cuff is by inflating the cuff to ensure it holds air and deflates properly. An aneroid sphygmomanometer can only inflate when it is secured around a patient's arm. To test the cuff prior to patient use it must be tricked to think it has been placed around an arm.

Instructions

• 1

  Ensure the cuff is deflated completely prior to testing it. Feel the cuff to check for the presence of air. If you detect air, open the air release valve completely. Flatten the cuff out into a straight line. Start at one end and slowly begin rolling the cuff. As you roll, gently squeeze the cuff to help the air remaining in the cuff to escape.

• 2

  Close the air release valve after ensuring the cuff is deflated. Aneroid sphygmomanometers will have an air release valve that keeps air in the cuff, allowing it to inflate, and lets air escape when it is time to deflate. The valve may be a lever or a screw. Tighten the screw to close the valve, or press the lever to the closed position. Check that the valve is closed by squeezing the inflation bulb. If you can hear air escaping, the valve is open. When no air escapes and the cuff begins to inflate, the valve is closed.

• 3

  Use the Velcro to secure the cuff in position.

  Roll the cuff into a circle to trick the aneroid sphygmomanometer into thinking it is around the arm of a patient. Start with the open end of the cuff---the end without the tube for the inflation bulb---and roll the cuff in toward the opposite end. Once the cuff has been rolled up, secure it in place using the Velcro. Hold the cuff in the rolled position manually, if it is too small for the Velcro to hold it in place.

• 4

  Inflate the cuff by squeezing the inflation bulb repeatedly. The blood pressure cuff's gauge will increase as the cuff inflates. Squeeze the inflation bulb until the reading on the gauge reaches the recommended amount described within the instructions for testing the cuff. Each cuff will come with instructions including the desired reading for testing.

• 5

  Deflate the cuff by opening the air release valve. Unscrew the air release valve, or press the lever into the open position. Once the valve has been opened, you should be able to hear the air escaping. The speed at which the air escapes can be controlled by the mechanism that controls the valve (the screw or lever). Depress the lever using enough force to allow the air to escape slowly. Twist the screw to the desired position to control how quickly the cuff will deflate.