Follow Up Answer Based On Question Regarding “How To Find The Brachial Pulse”

Hello Everyone,

Great follow up question came in on how to locate the “brachial” artery.

It’s located on the inside of the upper arm between the biceps and triceps muscle along the humerus bone.   Use the flat part of your four fingers to press moderately against the inside of  the arm at this location.  This is a skill that needs practice with a baby who has pulses so as to be confident when looking for a brachial pulse on a child without a pulse.  Remember, when in doubt, if the patient is unconscious, not breathing normally and appears dead…we treat them as they are.  Begin CPR!

Hope it helps.

Roy

Gasping For Life!

If an unconscious person is gasping but not breathing normally should you call 911 and leave them alone, or should you begin aggressive CPR?  In this Video Blog, Roy Shaw, EMT-P tells a true story about how a child may have died due to not having life saving CPR because she was showing signs of agonal breathing.  This caused the rescuer to stop the life saving CPR and ended tragically.
Watch this Video Blog to learn what agonal breathing is and how to respond to it.

http://www.theheart.org/article/924633.do