Measuring Blood Pressure and Pulse
Background:
Blood pressure is the pressure in the body’s arteries. The pressure is highest when the heart pumps blood into the body, this is called the high or systolic blood pressure. When hearts relax between two contractions, blood pressure drops, this is called the low or diastolic blood pressure.
Blood pressure fluctuates over the course of a day. When you exert yourself at work or exercise, and when you take a cold bath, your blood pressure rises. Blood pressure drops again when you relax and is lowest when you sleep.
Blood pressure is measured in mm of mercury (mmHg) using a blood pressure monitor, where a blood pressure cuff is placed around the bare upper arm. When blood pressure is taken, the employee must relax in a chair for a minimum of 5 minutes before the examination. The cuff automatically inflates with air and measures blood pressure and pulse.
- The measurement should be done with the patient seated, with both feet placed on the floor.
- It is important that the client has BT measured with the right size cuff. Check on the cuff if it is the right size in relation to the upper arm.
- If the client has just smoked or drunk coffee, it can affect the measurements.
- If control is measured, make a note of it in the comment field in ACCESS.
- There may also be a high incidence of white coat phenomenon. But it is not up to us to assess whether there are other conditions that can affect the figure. If it is above the reference range, we recommend going to a doctor.
High blood pressure often causes no symptoms and is discovered by chance. It is therefore important to know your blood pressure. High blood pressure is a sign that the heart is working harder than normal, and thus both the heart and the arteries are put under increased strain. Values above 140/90 mmHg increase the risk of early development of atherosclerosis, stroke, blood clots in the heart, heart failure and kidney failure. Approximately 1 million Danes have high blood pressure, of which 350,000 do not know it.
The disadvantage of a blood pressure measurement can be unnecessary worry about a false high blood pressure due to the unfamiliar situation.
NEW (from 2025):
Interpretation of values:
If the value is above 140/90 mmHg, the blood pressure should be checked after a few minutes and again a third time.
When you have your blood pressure measured, it can be elevated, simply because the situation is unfamiliar and you get a little nervous.
Our recommendations:
If the blood pressure is still too high after 3 measurements, a device can be borrowed for home blood pressure collection over 3 days in familiar surroundings. (See special loan slip for home measurement)
If the blood pressure is still too high, contact your GP. Treatment of high blood pressure will usually be a combination of stress relief, weight loss, diet, exercise, smoking cessation and finally medical treatment.
Our recommendations must take into account that the employee may be nervous, have just drunk coffee or smoked, or rushed to a health check.
Our equipment:
Omron HBP-1120, from 2025.
Omron M6 or M400 – primarily for loan.
Calibration interval is 2 years (3 years for HBP1120, and verification program is under development) but instead of calibrating, we buy new.
And instead of discarding the “old” ones, we take the devices out of the calibration program and use it for lending as they still measure “somewhat” correctly.
The client must acknowledge upon delivery that AGS does not take responsibility for the performance of the measurements and (in principle) the precision of the device, as it is no longer calibrated.
The loan slip is usually located at the back of the Workbook (if it is brought). And otherwise it can be found in TEAMS (AGS-Klanen/02.Documentation/Forms):
Omron HBP-1120 ERROR CODES:
