How to Take a Person's Pulse

Many illnesses that can make a person's heart rate increase. Knowing how to take a pulse can help you to detect problems early and prevent them from getting worse. Taking your own pulse can also help you stay within your healthiest exercise zones. A pulse can be taken on your wrist, neck or upper arm.

Things You'll Need

• Watch or clock with a second hand

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Instructions

• 1

  Let the person whose pulse you are taking sit still and rest quietly for five to 10 minutes to ensure that the heart rate hasn't risen due to heightened activity.

• 2

  Place two fingers gently against the wrist below the palm of the hand. If a pulse is hard to feel in the wrist, find the carotid artery in the neck, which is located to either side of the windpipe. Press gently.

• 3

  Count the beats for 30 seconds and then double it to determine beats per minute (BPM). A normal resting pulse for an infant to a 1-year-old is 100 to 160 BPM. A 1- to 6-year-old's pulse should run 65 to 140 BPM; at 7 to 10 years old, it should run 60 to 110 BPM. A normal pulse for someone 11 years old to an adult age is somewhere between 50 and 100 BPM.