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Calculator · What normal looks like at each age

Paediatric observations by age

A reference, not a score. England has a national PEWS chart with age-banded triggers, its rollout is uneven, and Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland run their own — so a number produced here would not be the number on the chart at the end of the bed. What…

Before you use it

These are normal ranges for a well child at rest — a crying, febrile or frightened child sits outside them and is not necessarily unwell. Score against YOUR unit's chart: the national PEWS bands its triggers by age and also scores work of breathing, oxygen delivery, ACVPU and parental concern, none of which is reproduced here. And one set of observations is worth much less than the trend across three.

Source: APLS normal ranges; NHS England national PEWS (2023) for the chart itself

Checked, and shown

Every threshold on this page was checked against its primary source by a practising doctor. Here is what that involved, and what it found.

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