Where There Is No Doctor - A Village Health Care Handbook (Hesperian Foundation, 1993, 516 p.): Information on Vital Signs

Where There Is No Doctor - A Village Health Care Handbook (Hesperian Foundation, 1993, 516 p.)

		(introduction...)
		HOW TO USE THIS BOOK
		THANKS
		TEACHING AIDS AT LOW COST
		INTRODUCTION
		NOTE ABOUT THIS NEW EDITION
		WORDS TO THE VILLAGE HEALTH WORKER (Brown Pages)
		Chapter 1 - HOME CURES AND POPULAR BELIEFS
		Chapter 2 - SICKNESSES THAT ARE OFTEN CONFUSED
		Chapter 3 - HOW TO EXAMINE A SICK PERSON
		Chapter 4 - HOW TO TAKE CARE OF A SICK PERSON
		Chapter 5 - HEALING WITHOUT MEDICINES
		Chapter 6 - RIGHT AND WRONG USES OF MODERN MEDICINES
		Chapter 7 - ANTIBIOTICS: WHAT THEY ARE AND HOW TO USE THEM
		Chapter 8 - HOW TO MEASURE AND GIVE MEDICINE
		Chapter 9 - INSTRUCTIONS AND PRECAUTIONS FOR INJECTIONS
		Chapter 10 - FIRST AID
		Chapter 11 - NUTRITION: WHAT TO EAT TO BE HEALTHY
		Chapter 12 - PREVENTION: HOW TO AVOID MANY SICKNESSES
		Chapter 13 - SOME VERY COMMON SICKNESSES
		Chapter 14 - SERIOUS ILLNESSES THAT NEED SPECIAL MEDICAL ATTENTION
		Chapter 15 - SKIN PROBLEMS
		Chapter 16 - THE EYES
		Chapter 17 - THE TEETH, GUMS, AND MOUTH
		Chapter 18 - THE URINARY SYSTEM AND THE GENITALS
		Chapter 19 - INFORMATION FOR MOTHERS AND MIDWIVES
		Chapter 20 - FAMILY PLANNING - HAVING THE NUMBER OF CHILDREN YOU WANT
		Chapter 21 - HEALTH AND SICKNESSES OF CHILDREN
		Chapter 22 - HEALTH AND SICKNESSES OF OLDER PEOPLE
		Chapter 23 - THE MEDICINE KIT
		THE GREEN PAGES - The Uses, Dosage, and Precautions for the Medicines Referred to in This Book
		THE BLUE PAGES - New Information
		VOCABULARY - Explaining Difficult Words
		ADDRESSES FOR TEACHING MATERIALS
		Dosage Blanks - For Giving Medicines to Those Who Cannot Read
		Patient Report
		Information on Vital Signs
		ABBREVIATIONS - WEIGHT - VOLUME
		Back cover

Information on Vital Signs

TEMPERATURE

There are two kinds of thermometer scales. Centigrade (C.) and Fahrenheit (F.). Either can be used to measure a person's temperature.

Here is how they compare:

Figure

PULSE OR HEARTBEAT

For a person at rest	ADULTS	60-80 beats per minute is normal.
	CHILDREN	80-100
	BABIES	100-140

For each degree Centigrade (C.) of fever, the heartbeat usually increases' about 20 beats per minute.

RESPIRATION

Fora person at rest	ADULTS AND
	LARGE CHILDREN	12-20 breaths per minute is normal.
	CHILDREN	up to 30 breaths per minute is normal.
	BABIES	up to 40 breaths per minute is normal.

More than 40 shallow breaths a minute usually means pneumonia.

BLOOD PRESSURE (This is included for health workers who have the equipment to measure blood pressure.)

For a person at rest

120/80 is normal, but this varies a lot.

If the second reading, when the sound disappears, is over 100, this is a danger sign of high blood pressure.