Automatic blood pressure cuffs...

K, stop with the generic beer!

......:wacko:
 
ok im pretty ashamed that i let that first post get out without a quick spell check. but i blame it on the flash back i was having at the time....
 
Practically all automatic BP units use an oscillometric method to determine the pressure. They have a pressure sensor that senses the pressure in the cuff. When the cuff is inflated to a pressure within the range of DP to SP, the pressure in the cuff will be affected by the pulse pressure. Below DP or above SP, the pressure in the cuff would remain constant, or without oscillation. The computer in the unit observes the pressure when the oscillating starts and when it stops, and computes SP and DP from that data.

I don't know what specific ITEK or Welch-Allyn units were being mentioned earlier, but I have a high index of suspicion that the described method of their operation is incorrect, that they do not use an ausculatory method, but do in fact use the oscillometric method that's standard in automatic or electronic BP units.
 
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Som lifepaks and other machines come with an electronic bp. Only have used it on scene or when the rig isn't moving.
 
Oscillometric, microphone...velcro noise and external tapping still set it off.

Technically speaking, a microphone is an oscillometric transducer which operates within the frequencies of sound waves. I tore open an ITEK and looked at the mechanism...essentially a microphone, a flexible component coupled with a component designed to produce electronic signals. A human auditory canal sealed with a decent stethoscope and earpiece is analogous, except you and I can tell velcro noise from a heartbeat.
The point it that the auto cuffs are not as good nor as cost effective as a trained person with good hearing, the proper scope, and a decent BP cuff. "It is what it is" and "Badda bing".

And the rolling stands they come on make good carts for manual vital sign equipment, too.
 
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My service carries Zoll M-series w/ NIBP cuffs. I do a baseline manual and will use the NIBP only if it is in the same range as the manual
 
I work at a clinic that supplies only electronic BP cuffs. I'd say that 40% of the readings I get are glaringly inaccurate. I'm strongly considering purchasing a cuff to bring to work so I can take manuals. I don't care if it takes a little more time.
 
So... The Serial Merger is back again.

I've got 4 similar threads here now.


The long and short of it:

The cheap ones you get at a drug store are crap. I hate it when "Skilled" nursing homes use them, then call 911 for "extreme" hypo/hypertension... when I arrive and check with a normal cuff... B/P is normal.

Even the cuffs in the LP12's aren't always accurate. In fact, at least one medic I work with won't use the LP12's NIBP until he's taken a baseline manual pressure.
 
So... The Serial Merger is back again.

I've got 4 similar threads here now.


The long and short of it:

The cheap ones you get at a drug store are crap. I hate it when "Skilled" nursing homes use them, then call 911 for "extreme" hypo/hypertension... when I arrive and check with a normal cuff... B/P is normal.

Even the cuffs in the LP12's aren't always accurate. In fact, at least one medic I work with won't use the LP12's NIBP until he's taken a baseline manual pressure.

That's in the protocols for the service I ride with, first BP is always always always never fail manual by ausciltation unless extreme circumstances won't allow then palpation is fine. After that we can use the automatic cuff on the Zoll monitor but if it's more than 20mm Hg different than our manual pressure we toss it and take another manual.
 
I spoke with a Welch Allyn support tech today...

about a 300 series VS monitor.
He acknowledged that noise will cause the machine to restart and pump up a higher level, that it can adversely affect readings, but here was the capper:
A ten mmHg range is considered "acceptable" for these machines, and that they are "not designed" (his words) to direct patient treatment, but are for screening only.
I have recommended that we get rid of these expensive little friends. Check your manufacturers too about "acceptable" accuracy and what THEY intend for these to be used for.
 
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