Premergency First Aid, CPR and AED Manual

2 PREmergency Scene Management

The Radial Pulse is used to assess conscious, responsive adults and children older than one year. The radial artery is felt on the wrist. Use your index and middle fingers to lightly feel, or palpate, the patient’s wrist. Sometimes you need to slide your fingers a little to each side and press again to feel a pulse. If you cannot determine a radial pulse, attempt to locate the carotid pulse. The Carotid Pulse is used to assess unresponsive adults and children older than one year or a patient with no radial pulse. The Carotid Pulse is felt in the neck on either side of the throat. Always check the carotid on the side closest to you. Never feel, or compress, both sides of the neck at the same time. Use your index and middle fingers to palpate the groove between the throat and neck muscle, just under the jaw. Be cautious when assessing the carotid pulse in conscious patients, especially older patients. Only use gentle pressure on the side of the neck. The Brachial Pulse is used to assess infants. It is very hard to palpate an infant’s Radial Pulse. Due to the soft tissue of the throat, you should not palpate the Carotid Pulse in infants. Use your Index and middle fingers to palpate the area just above the elbow and below the muscle on the inside of the arm. You may need to press quite firmly as many infants have plump arms.

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