ESR stand

Mercurial blood pressure machine

A device used to measure blood pressure.

How it works;

After cuffing the patient pump using a bulb until the pressure is about 20mmHg above the expected systolic blood pressure.

The patient should be comfortable and relaxed the lower arm should be placed at the level of the heart with the inside of the arm facing upwards

Place the chest piece of the stethoscope on the artery under the cuff.

To be able to measure open the air release screw on the bulb by turning it counter clockwise, ideally the rate of air release should be 2-3mm, perform a visual check of the air release rate by looking at scale.  Mercury display must move along the scale at a speed of 1-15 graduations per second.

Once the upper blood pressure value has been reached  a rhythmic thumbing sound is heard

Systolic blood pressure value is the pressure measured when the heart contracts forcing blood into the blood vessels

When the diastolic pressure is reached the thumbing sounds stops

Diastolic is the pressure measured when the cardiac muscle is expanded and fills up with blood again.

Open the air release valve completely so that air can escape from the cuff immediately and the procedure has been completed.

                                             How do you use MUAC

Place the tape measure around the LEFT arm (the arm should be relaxed and hang down the side of the body).

Measure the MUAC while ensuring that the tape neither pinches the arm nor is left loose.

Read the measurement from the window of the tape or from the tape. Record the MUAC to the nearest 0.1 cm or 1mm.

MUAC is measured in adults and children, to the nearest 0.1 cm, using a flexible non stretch tape laid at the midpoint between the acromion and olecranon processes on the shoulder blade and the ulna, respectively, of the arm.

MUAC is a measure of the sum of the muscle and subcutaneous fat in the upper arm.

               Why do we measure MUAC

MUAC, is a measurement that allows health workers to quickly determine if a patient is acutely malnourished. PIH, as well as many other organizations, measures the circumference of a patient’s arm at the midpoint between his or her shoulder and elbow