Vital Signs Table

Pulse
Descriptors: regular, irregular, strong or weak
Adult	60 to 100 beats per minute
Children - age 1 to 8 years	80 to 100
Infants - age 1 to 12 months	100 to 120
Neonates - age 1 to 28 days	120 to 160

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Blood pressure

Systolic

Diastolic

Adult

90 to 140 mmHg

60 to 90 mmHg

Children - age 1 to 8 years

80 to 110 mmHg

Infants - age 1 to 12 months

70 to 95 mmHg

Neonates - age 1 to 28 days

>60 mmHg

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Respirations
Descriptors: normal, shallow, labored, noisy, Kussmaul
Adult (normal)	12 to 20 breaths per minute
Children - age 1 to 8 years	15 to 30
Infants - age 1 to 12 months	25 to 50
Neonates - age 1 to 28 days	40 to 60

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Vital signs by age

Adult vital signs

Pulse

60 to 100 beats per minute

Blood pressure

90 to 140 mmHg (systolic)
60 to 90 mmHg (diastolic)

Respirations

12 to 20 breaths per minute

Child vital signs (age 1 to 8 years)

Pulse

80 to 100 beats per minute

Blood pressure

80 to 110 mmHg systolic

Respirations

15 to 30 breaths per minute

Infant vital signs

Pulse

100 to 140 beats per minute

Blood pressure

70 to 95 mmHg systolic

Respirations

25 to 50 breaths per minute

Neonatal vital signs (full-term, <28 days)

Pulse

120 to 160 beats per minute

Blood pressure

>60 mmHg systolic

Respirations

40 to 60 breaths per minute

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Lung sounds

Crackles or rales

crackling or rattling sounds

Wheezing

high-pitched whistling expirations

Stridor

harsh, high-pitched inspirations

Rhonchi

coarse, gravelly sounds

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Pulse oximetry

Range

Value

Treatment

Normal

95 to 100%

None or placebic

Mild hypoxia

91 to 94%

Give oxygen

Moderate hypoxia

86 to 90%

Give 100% oxygen

Severe hypoxia

< 85%

Give 100% oxygen w/ positive pressure

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Glasgow Coma Scale

ADULT

INFANT

Eye opening

Spontaneous

To speech

To pain

No response

Best motor response

Obeys verbal command

Normal movements

Localizes pain

Flexion - withdraws from pain

Withdraws from pain

Flexion - abnormal

Extension

No response

Best verbal response

Oriented and converses

Coos, babbles

Disoriented and converses

Cries but consolable

Inappropriate words

Persistently irritable

Incomprehensible sounds

Grunts to pain/restless

No response

E + M + V = 3 to 15

90% less than or equal to 8 are in coma
Greater than or equal to 9 not in coma
8 is the critical score
Less than or equal to 8 at 6 hours - 50% die
9-11 = moderate severity
Greater than or equal to 12 = minor injury

Coma is defined as not opening eyes, not obeying commands, and not uttering understandable words.

Additional references: Traumatic Brain Injury Resource Guide and House of DeFrance.

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Apgar Scale (evaluate @ 1 and 5 minutes postpartum)

Sign

Activity (muscle tone)

Active

Arms and legs flexed

Absent

Pulse

>100 bpm

<100 bpm

Absent

Grimace (reflex irritability)

Sneezes, coughs, pulls away

Grimaces

No response

Appearance (skin color)

Normal over entire body

Normal except extremities

Cyanotic or pale all over

Respirations

Good, crying

Slow, irregular

Absent

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Pain scale

The 0-10 pain scale is becoming known as the "fifth vital sign" in hospital, pre-hospital and outpatient care. Patients are asked to rate their pain from 0 (no pain) to 10 (the most intense pain imaginable), and a quantitative measure is taken.

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