the apgar score is a system used to quickly determine the status of a newborn's overall
condition it should be obtained one minute and five minutes after birth to determine
if treatment is needed for the infant we created this video just to provide you with an
easy to follow and understand overview of this topic so if you're ready let's get into it
as previously mentioned an apgar score is a test that is performed on newborn infants after
birth to check on their condition it takes into consideration the infant's heart rate breathing
effort color and other signs to assess whether or not emergency medical care is needed in fact
abgar is actually a bacronym that stands for the following appearance pulse grimace activity
and respiratory effort here's what the apgar scoring chart looks like the scoring system takes
into consideration the factors that were mentioned and gives the infant a score between 0 and 10. the
higher the score the better overall condition the newborn is in each factor is scored individually
on a scale of 0 to 2 with 2 being the best score if an infant were to earn a 2 on all 5 parameters
then they would receive a perfect apgar score of 10 however if their score is low it means that
medical emergency care is needed so now let's talk about each of the different parameters
the appearance parameter refers to the infant skin color if the body is pink with good color
the infant would get a score of two if their body is pink but the extremities appear to be blue
then they would only earn a score of one if the entire body is blue or pale in color they would
get a score of zero then you can look at the pulse which refers to the infant's heart rate
greater than 100 beats per minute is good and gets the infinite score of two less than 100 beats
per minute is bad and only gets a score of one no pulse at all is very bad and gets a score of zero
next you need to look at the infant's grimace response if the infant coughs sneezes or cries
when stimulated this is good and earns a score of two if there is facial movement
only when stimulated this earns a score of one if there is no response at all to stimulation
this is very bad and would earn a score of zero the next parameter is activity which refers to
the infant's muscle tone if there is active movement the infant would get a score of two
if there is only some movement of the extremities the infant would get a score of one if there is
no movement at all they would get a score of zero and finally the next factor to assess is
the respiratory effort a strong cry and normal breathing effort gets the infant a score of two
a weak cry with irregular breathing earns the infant a score of one
apnea or no breathing at all is obviously very bad and gets the infant a score of zero
once each of the parameters have been assessed individually you can add up the total in order
to determine the infant's outboard score so now let's talk about what these results mean
if the infant earns a score of 7 or higher they are considered to be in good health in this case
you can monitor the infant and provide routine medical care if they earn a score of four to six
it likely means that the infant needs some type of extra medical care in this case the infant may
require supplemental oxygen or assistance with breathing if the infant earns a score of 0 to 3
this is considered to be a medical emergency and they will likely need cardiopulmonary
resuscitation aka cpr again this test should be performed at least two times it should
be given one minute after birth and again five minutes after birth at the five minute mark if
the score is less than seven you should repeat the assessment every five minutes for up to 20 minutes
in general if the infant earns a low apgar score it does not mean that they are unhealthy
it just means that they likely need immediate medical care at this time sometimes the infants
simply need suctioning to remove substances from their airway to help them breathe better
or the infant may need oxygen for a short period of time as a respiratory therapist if an infant
is cyanotic be sure to provide oxygen therapy as hypoxemia is likely present real quick guys
do me a huge favor and hit the like button it really helps support the channel and i
greatly greatly appreciate it while you're down there go ahead and click the subscribe button as
well because we have a ton of other videos on our channel that i think you will enjoy
just a reminder this video is for educational and informational purposes only
but hopefully you can take what you learned and apply it to your career as a respiratory therapist
what topic should we cover next let us know down in the comment section below
and if you want to learn even more about this topic we do have a full guide on our website
i will drop a link to it right below this video down in the description thank you so
much for watching all the way to the end have a blessed day and as always breathe easy my friend
you