Let us next, together, evaluate this patient’s carotid arterial pulse, located in the neck just medial to the sternocleidomastoid. We evaluate the upstroke, the peak, the downstroke, its regularity. To assess this, we get a little help from the use of a cotton swab. I’ll place it here on the vessel, and again observe the upstroke, peak, and downstroke of this patient’s carotid arterial pulse.