Adult vs pediatric vital signs: adults run 60 to 100 beats/min, newborns about 125

Radiographers measure vital signs and act on them. You don’t diagnose, but you do respond. This page is a study reference, not clinical guidance: follow your training and your facility’s protocols.

What are normal vital signs by age?

These averages come from one patient care textbook (Ehrlich and Coakes, 10th ed.), and its adult row matches our Patient Care guide.

Age	Pulse (beats/min)	Respiration (breaths/min)	Systolic BP (mm Hg)
Term newborn	125	Under 60	70
6 months	120	24 to 36	90
1 year	120	22 to 30	96
3 years	110	20 to 26	100
5 years	100	20 to 24	100
8 years	90	18 to 22	105
12 years	85 to 90	16 to 22	115
16 years	75 to 80	14 to 20	Under 120
Adult	60 to 100	12 to 20	Under 120

Neither ARRT® document lists pediatric values, and we didn’t compare other books’ tables. Use your program’s table for class. The pattern in this table: the younger the patient, the faster the pulse and breathing.

For adults, also know these:

• Blood pressure: normal is under 120 and under 80 mm Hg. High starts at 130 systolic or 80 diastolic (NHLBI). Older books and older questions use higher lines, so check which one your program teaches. Systolic under 90 is hypotension. Over 180 systolic or over 120 diastolic is what NHLBI calls a crisis.
• Temperature: 98.6°F (37°C) is the oral average. Fever is 100.4°F or higher by mouth.
• Oxygen saturation: normal is 95% to 100%. A reading below 95% may mean tissues aren’t getting enough oxygen. Assess the patient first, then check the probe.

The patient monitoring chapter covers how to take each one.

Is CPR part of a radiographer’s job?

Yes. If a patient is unresponsive with no pulse or breathing, call the code and start CPR. Don’t wait for someone else.

• ARRT’s competency requirements say candidates must be CPR/BLS certified through February 28, 2027, and BLS or ACLS certified from March 1, 2027.
• ARRT’s 2022 and 2027 outlines both list cardiac or respiratory arrest, with CPR and AED as examples.
• Current adult teaching is 30 compressions and 2 breaths, 100 to 120 compressions a minute, about 2 inches (5 cm) deep. Use an AED as soon as possible.
• Ehrlich and Coakes say not to attempt CPR on infants or children unless your certification covers them. The healthcare-provider BLS course includes adults, children and infants.

When the code team arrives, they take over and you assist.

Can you give oxygen or start an IV?

Oxygen delivery systems are on the outline, and the 2027 competency list includes care of an oxygen tank and IV tubing. Normally the physician orders the device and the rate. Ehrlich and Coakes say that until a physician can evaluate the patient, a low flow rate could be appropriate for acute anxiety with a rapid heart rate and shortness of breath. They also say to give 2 to 4 L/min to a short-of-breath patient with a suspected heart attack if your institution permits it. The 2022 AARC guideline reports that routine oxygen did not reduce 1-year mortality in suspected heart attack patients without hypoxemia. Follow the order and your facility’s protocol.

Venipuncture stays in the 2027 exam outline under pharmacology, but it leaves the General Patient Care competency list on March 1, 2027. State law and facility policy decide what you may do. Medication decisions belong to the physician.

When do you stop the exam?

ARRT’s outline gives no numeric stop thresholds, and we found none in the patient care text sections we read, so we list none. Ehrlich and Coakes name these triggers: a change in skin color, sweating, pain, or any other change in the patient’s physical status. Tell your supervisor, the radiology nurse or the radiologist right away, or call your rapid response team. They also say to stop the examination if you identify signs of shock, and to have a nurse or physician check a distressed patient with an abnormal oximeter reading before continuing. Our judgment: treat any other change in status, or a value that’s abnormal for their age, the same way.

To drill this, use the Patient Interactions practice set. Older patients have their own rules, covered in what counts as a geriatric patient.