Next, we will evaluate our patient’s carotid arterial pulse located, of course, just medial to the sternocleidomastoid muscle in the neck. I am placing my thumb on the vessel. I am actually having to feel around and, yes, I do feel the pulse, I do feel it, and to help you to appreciate what I feel, I am going to use the cotton swab, place it over the vessel and we’ll watch the movement of the tip of the cotton swab, so that we can together share the type of impulse that I feel.
Choose the best description of the carotid arterial pulse: