TapRate
Count a pulse. Tap. Read the rate.
TapRate turns the thing you already do — feeling a radial pulse or watching a chest rise — into an accurate heart or respiratory rate, without counting for a full minute or watching a second hand.
Three taps in and it is already counting for you
Wear the watch on the hand taking the pulse. Tap with the other. The math runs while you keep your fingers where they are.
Find the rate
Feel for a radial pulse, or watch the chest rise and fall for respirations. Nothing about your assessment changes.
Tap each beat
One tap per beat or breath. The watch answers with a haptic so you can keep your eyes on the patient, not the screen.
Read it off
A rate appears after the first two taps and settles as more arrive. Stop whenever you are satisfied — there is no fixed count to finish.
The number is colored by how much the app trusts it. Version 3.0 averages across a rolling window rather than reacting to your last interval, so one late tap nudges the reading instead of throwing it. Double-taps are ignored, and a pause longer than five seconds starts a clean measurement rather than folding the gap into your average.
Your agency’s numbers, on both devices
Heart rate, respiratory rate and blood pressure for four age bands, plus an SpO₂ floor. Type them once on the iPhone and they are on the watch.
Edit on the phone, read on the watch
Every reference value is editable. Changes are sent to the watch as you type — there is no Save button and nothing to remember. If the watch is out of range, the change is delivered the next time the two connect, and the settings screen tells you when the last transfer happened.
The oxygen saturation minimum defaults to 95% and is a single setting, because agencies differ on it. Whatever you set is what the Condition Guide flags against.
- Neonatal, infant, child and adult bands
- Restore the published defaults at any time
- A rapid-rate alert that turns the big number red
A metronome and a round clock in one screen
Set your compression rate and the length of a compressor’s round to match your agency’s guidelines. The ring counts the round down, and spoken cues call out one minute, 45, 30 and 15 seconds remaining so the next compressor is ready before the swap.
Four metronome sounds to pick from, an audio mute for when the room is loud enough already, and a restart that actually starts the round over.
- 60–140 compressions per minute
- Round length from 30 seconds to 4 minutes
- Round counter and start time on screen
A pre-arrival review, on the way to the call
Narrow the call down — age group, then medical or trauma, then the presentation you are expecting — and get the causes usually worth considering, the red flags to look for, and which way each vital sign normally moves.
Sixteen presentations, no signal required
Ten medical and six trauma presentations, from respiratory distress and stroke to hemorrhagic shock and burns. Everything is stored on the device, so it works in a dead zone and there is nothing to wait for.
The expected vitals are shown against your reference ranges, not a fixed table — so the comparison is to the numbers your agency actually uses.
- Likely causes worth carrying into the assessment
- Red flags that change the priority of the call
- Expected vitals with direction, typical figures, and your baseline
Sized for the wrist, not shrunk to fit it
The same guide runs on Apple Watch with its own layout: choices wrap instead of squeezing, short names replace long ones, and the detail view stacks so nothing truncates on a 40 mm screen.
It is a familiarization aid built from standard EMT and AEMT teaching — a way to re-orient on the way in, not a protocol and not a treatment prompt.
Built by a volunteer firefighter and EMT
TapRate was written for the back of a rig, then found its way into clinics, training rooms and veterinary practices.
EMS and fire
EMTs, AEMTs and paramedics taking a rate in a moving ambulance, in the dark, or with gloves on.
Nurses and clinicians
Anyone who counts a manual pulse or respiratory rate during triage and rounds.
Veterinary teams
Animal rates run far outside human ranges — the app reads anything from 20 to 300 per minute.
Students and instructors
A quick way to check a counted rate against a measured one while learning, and a recall aid before a call.
Watch complication
Put TapRate on a watch face and it opens straight to the tap screen when seconds count.
Nothing leaves the device
No account, no analytics, no network calls. Settings sync only between your own iPhone and watch.
Please read before you rely on it
TapRate is a measurement and recall tool. The Condition Guide is based on common EMT guidelines and is a familiarization aid only — it is not a protocol, it does not direct treatment, and every value in it can be edited. You are responsible for the accuracy of the information and the conditions under which it is used. Always follow your agency’s guidelines, protocols and medical direction.
Free, and it works the first time you use it
No account, no trial, no upsell. Download it before your next shift and try it on your own pulse.
Free on theApp Store