6
2.1 Monitoring Blood Pressure
Blood pressure can be measured at timed intervals which you set, or you can start the blood pressure
measuring cycle manually. Systolic and Diastolic readings are shown on the LEDs at the upper right of
the monitor. You can set the high and low alarm limits for both the systolic and diastolic measurements.
Blood pressure cycles - You can measure NIBP
at timed intervals or manually. To set a timed
interval, press the
Auto button to cycle through
the available intervals: X, 1, 3, 5, 10, 15, 30, or
60 minutes. Wait until the number for the
selected interval stops flashing; the measurement
will automatically begin 20 seconds later.
Note: The interval is timed from the start of one
BP cycle to the start of the next cycle.
Pressing the button one more time after the 60 is
lit will return the
Auto timing to the Off mode
(indicated by an “X”). In this mode, automatic
measurement at timed intervals will not occur.
Initially, both blood pressure displays will be
blank.
Stopping a blood pressure cycle - The
BP
Start/Cancel
button does one of two things:
• If a blood pressure measurement is not in
progress, pressing
BP Start/Cancel will
start a blood pressure measurement cycle,
whether the
Auto timer is set to a specific
interval or is off.
• If a blood pressure measurement is in
progress, pressing BP Start/Cancel will
deflate the cuff immediately and cancel the
measurement. If the
Auto button is in one of
the timed modes, the cuff will inflate again
after the selected number of minutes.
Note: Canceling a blood pressure cycle does not
end automatic BP timing. If the
Auto is set to
any number, the next blood pressure cycle
will start again after that number of minutes
has elapsed.
Alarms - When any of the blood pressure limits
are exceeded, an audible alarm sounds and the
affected measurement flashes. If the Print On
Alarm configuration is set to Yes, a blood
pressure alarm will trigger an automatic print.
You can silence the blood pressure alarm, and
all alarms, by pressing the large blue
Silence
button at the right side of the instrument. This
will silence all alarms for 60, 90, or 120
seconds, depending on the setting selected in
Advanced Configuration. However, any
measurement still outside the set limits will
flash. When alarms are silenced, they do not
trigger a Print On Alarm.
To suspend the blood pressure alarms, press the
BP ALARMS Off button so the red LED in the
button lights. A suspended alarm will still flash
if it goes outside the range of the limits, but it
will not sound the audible alarm. When an alarm
is suspended, it will not trigger a Print On
Alarm.
Note: The blood pressure alarm can be
suspended for only 3 minutes when the
language setting is configured to “Francais”.
If the language is set to any other language,
pressing the
BP ALARMS Off button will
suspend the alarm until you remove the
suspension.
Trend data – Trend data is captured at each
blood pressure cycle, whether it is started
automatically or manually. If the
Auto timing of
NIBP is off (X), or greater than 15, then trend
data is captured every 15 minutes.
Initial pressure – The initial cuff pressure can
be set in the Advanced Configuration. The Atlas
Monitor will pump up to the selected initial cuff
pressure. If this pressure is too low to measure
the systolic pulse, the system will repeatedly
increase pressure by 40 mmHg and measure
again.