Blood Pressure Lab

Analysis Questions
1) Compare the systole to diastole.
Systolic pressure is the pressure when the heart contracts. Diastolic pressure is the pressure when the heart relaxes.
2) What equipment is used to measure heart rate? To measure blood pressure?
To measure heart rate, all you have to do is use your fingers. There are seven pulse points that you can use to measure heart rate, but carotid arteries and radial arteries are the easiest places to measure it. Blood pressure can be measured with a sphygmomanometer.
3) Why is using your thumb to measure pulse not ideal?
The thumb also has its own pulse, so using it to measure heart rate in one of the seven pulse points could be confusing.

4) In your own words, describe how to use a blood pressure cuff (sphygomomanometer).
Place cuff on arm, put head of stethoscope above the crease of the elbow, inflate cuff to around 150 mmHg, then open the valve slightly to let air out. When you hear sounds from the stethoscope, the value on the gauge is the systolic blood pressure. When the sounds stop, the gauge reading is the diastolic blood pressure.

In my first test, I had 115 systole to 80 diastole.
In my second test, I had 120 systole to 75 diastole.