Signs we are ALIVE

Vital Signs

What are Vital signs?Measures of the body’s most basic functions

Heart RateBlood PressureTemperatureRespiration Rate

These measures help assess the basic physiological state of the body – provides a baseline for comparison

When they’re not zero = person alive

All vital signs can be …Observed, Measured, and Monitored

Normal ranges of vital signs change with AGE and MEDICAL CONDITIONS

Our bodies are always trying to maintain HOMEOSTASIS – a constancy in the internal environment of the body, naturally maintained by adaptive responses that promote healthy survival.

Ex: sweating to cool body temperature

Vital SignsBody Temperature

Respiratory Rate

Pulse / Heart Rate

Blood Pressure

Body Temperature The human body has an ideal temperature, and it

works to maintain it, this is called:

THERMOREGULATION

Measurement: oral, axillary, tympanic, rectal

Respiratory Rate Respiratory System delivers oxygen to the

body’s tissues & eliminates carbon dioxide.

Major muscle of ventilation: diaphragm

Measured in “breaths per minute”

Adults: 12 – 20 bpm

Children: 20 – 30 bpm

Newborns: 30 – 60 bpm

Other factors affecting respiration

Pain, anxiety, exercise

Trauma, infection, medication

Respiratory and cardiovascular disease

Alteration in fluid, electrolyte and Acid-base balances

Increase in blood CO2 is most powerful respiratory stimulant

Measuring respiration rateThrough observation – one full inspiration and

expiration (don’t tell them when you’re counting)

Normal adult 12-20 bpm

Tachypnea = respiration >20 bpm

Bradypnea = respiration < 10 bpm

Apnea = absence of breathing

Dyspnea = difficulty breathing

Pulse OximeterMeasures oxygen level in blood

Normal PulseOximeter = 95% to 100%

PulsePulse rate: Adult = 60 to 100 beats

per minute

Children under 10 = 70 to 120 beats per minute

Tachycardia – rapid pulse (>100 bpm)

Bradycardia- low pulse (<60 bpm)

Factors contributing to increased pulse rate

Pain, fever, stress, exercise

Bleeding, decrease in BP, some medications like adrenalin (epi-pen)

Factors contributing to decreased pulse rate

Age, rest, thin body size

some medications like Beta-blockers (also help lower BP)

Blood Pressure Measure of the force exerted by blood on the

arterial walls during contraction & relaxation.

Measured pressure when the heart is relaxed: Diastolic

Measured pressure when the heart is contracted: Systolic

Measured with a Sphygmomanometer

Blood Pressure cont’d Recorded in millimeters of mercury

(mm Hg) with systolic over diastolic

Normal adult systolic: 95-140 mm Hg

Normal adult diastolic: 60-90 mm Hg

Hypertension = high blood pressure (age, obesity, exercise, emotions, food intake,

Hypotension = low blood pressure

BloodBlood PressurePressure Systolic pressure

= 95-140 mmHg

Diastolic pressure = 60-90 mmHg

120/ 80 Normal