Operating Table

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.