How to Take a Pulse or Heart Rate
- 1). Sit down on a comfortable chair, and relax for 10 minutes. This allows your pulse to return to a normal, resting rate.
- 2). Use the index and middle fingers from your right hand to locate your pulse on your left wrist. Lay your left hand on your thigh, with the palm facing up. Place the tips of your fingers on your wrist, just below the thumb joint. Experiment with slightly different positions, until you locate a stable pulse.
- 3). Look at a clock. Use one with a second hand, or a digital stopwatch.
- 4). Count the number of heartbeats in a 15-second period.
- 5). Multiply the resulting number by four; this is the number of heartbeats in one minute. For example, if your result was 13, your pulse would be 52 beats per minute.
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