A Medic’s Guide to Medical Writing (Vital Signs)
⤹ or, in which bex tells you about vitals
⤹ read the other entries of “ A Medic’s Guide to Medical Writing”
To me, vitals are a writer’s best friends.
Being able to accurately describe vitals signs not only makes your work that much more “real”, it can also propel your story just by a few set of numbers. So let’s get started.
Vitals are measurements of the body’s function that help determine the status of a patient. Vitals also help other medical professional determine a course of treatment and observe how the treatment effects the patient.
If I give a patient medication and I notice his vitals improve, that means he’s getting better. If they don’t improve, then my initial thought of what the problem was is wrong. Make sense?
Pulse Rate: a measure of how many times the heart beats in a minute
Respirations: a measure of how many times someone breathes in a minute
Blood Pressure: the measure of the pressure of your heart beating. The first number is called the systolic, which is a measurement of the pressure in the arteries of you heart when it contracts. The second number, called the diastolic, is a measurement of the arteries in your heart when it relaxes.
Temperature: a measurement of the overall temperature of the body.
And it is standard knowledge and anyone in the medical field. If someone were to ask me: “What’s the normal vitals of a healthy adult?” Here is what I would tell them:
“BP is 120/80, respirations are 12 to 20 a minute, pulse rate is 60 to 100 a minute, temperature is 98.6.”
Now to you, that might sound like a whole lot of confusing information, but I promise it isn’t! I’m going to show you what the normal vitals are for every age category, because yes they are different.
Neonate (aged 0- 1 month)
Pulse Rate: 90 to 80 beats a minute
Respirations: 30 to 60 times a minute
Blood Pressure (BP): 90/60
Temperature: 98 to 100 degrees
Infant (aged 1 month - 1 year)
Pulse Rate: 100 to 160 beats a minute
Respirations: 25 to 50 a minute
Blood Pressure (BP): 105/66
Temperature: 96.8 to 99.6 degrees.
Toddler (aged 1 - 3 years)
Pulse Rate: 90 to 150 beats a minute
Respirations: 20 to 30 a minute
Blood Pressure (BP): 105/66
Temperature: 96.8 to 99.6 degrees.
Preschool Age ( aged 3 - 6 years)
Pulse Rate: 30 to 140 beats a minute
Respirations: 20 to 25 a minute
Blood Pressure (BP): 110/70
Temperature: 98.6 degrees
School Age (aged 6 - 12 years)
Pulse Rate: 70 to 120 a minute
Respirations: 15 to 20 a minute
Blood Pressure (BP): 112/72
Temperature: 98.6 degrees
Adolescent (aged 12- 18 years)
Pulse Rate: 60 to 100 a minute
Respirations: 12 to 20 a minute
Blood Pressure (BP): 120/80
Temperature: 98.6 degrees
Early Adult (aged 19 - 40 years)
Pulse Rate: 60 to 100 a minute
Respirations: 12 to 20 a minute
Blood Pressure (BP): 120/80
Temperature: 98.6 degrees
Middle Adult (aged 41 - 60 years)
Pulse Rate: 60 to 100 a minute
Respirations: 12 to 20 a minute
Blood Pressure (BP): 120/80
Temperature: 98.6 degrees
Older Adult (aged 61 and older)
Pulse Rate: 60 to 100 a minute
Respirations: 12 to 20 a minute
Blood Pressure (BP): 120/80
Temperature: 98.6 degrees
You will quickly noticed that once the age category gets older, the vitals will mostly stay the same. The general rule is, the younger the person, the faster the vitals. Ask any parent and they will tell you, kids move fast. Not only that, the muscles and the bones in their body haven’t fully developed or solidified yet. A child with a higher set vitals than their parent is absolutely normal.
If you have any questions or need assistance in writing a vitals scene, feel free to reach out, I’ll do my best to help you!