Ace the Nassau County EMT Test 2026 – Elevate Your Emergency Game!

When you use palpation to measure blood pressure, you are determining the systolic pressure. Inflate the cuff above the expected systolic value and slowly deflate while palpating a peripheral artery. The pressure at which the pulse first returns marks the systolic pressure—the peak arterial pressure during heart contraction. Diastolic pressure, MAP, and pulse pressure cannot be reliably obtained by palpation alone, since they require additional cues (like Korotkoff sounds or knowledge of both systolic and diastolic values).