Opening the box for the Simplicare Blood Pressure Monitor, I was immediately struck by its compactness, the versatility of the charging options and the completeness of the accessories. You get batteries even though you can also power the monitor with USB C.The included faux-velvet carrying bag really does allow for everything you need. Even if you expand the monitor’s cuff to accommodate your arm and store it that way, it will fit in the bag — along with the monitor itself and even the instructions booklet.Most blood pressure monitors wrap awkwardly, and stare at you from a shelf where they take up far too much space. This one packs into a comparatively tiny form factor that will be especially useful to people with small living spaces.But what you get in compactness, you pay for in fiddly usage.Most people who buy a BPM like this will be using it on their own. I really don’t expect my wife to drop everything and cater to me whenever I feel inclined to check my blood pressure. After all, I have slightly elevated blood pressure and am not in the dangerous range. So the idea was to be able to use the SimpliCare without assistance.An NP recorded my blood pressure at my GP’s office yesterday. Three readings with the SimpliCare yielded numbers that, averaged, were completely in sync with those of my GP’s huge machine and monitor. That suggests the SimpliCare is quite accurate.But *getting* to those readings involved fussing endlessly with the strap, which is hard to measure and tighten with one hand. My other, more cumbrous blood pressure monitor’s strap is far easier to tighten than this one.So if you live alone and have a condition that makes your hands shake, or prevents you from applying sustained pressure, this might not be the BPM for you.Finally, there’s the question of whether buying this BPM really does help to fight child trafficking. I don’t mean the instances of trafficking that are endlessly politicized (to victims’ detriment) by members of both parties in the U.S., but the very real international child trafficking *industry* that destroys lives in Eastern Europe and across the world. I mean the provable, documented (by credible journalists and scholars) criminal networks that countries across the world are trying to intercept and prosecute.When I saw the SimpliCare card, included with my BPM, that bore the title, “STOP HUMAN TRAFFICKING,” I was excited. The textual details of the card suggested SimpliCare had picked a real charity that could benefit innumerable trafficking victims.Unfortunately, when I tried to visit the URL for SimpliCare’s charity page, I was greeted by the error message “Not Found.” And when I checked the site’s content list for places where that page might have been relocated, I found no evidence of SimpliCare’s charity effort’s continued existence.I can only conclude that SimpliCare’s child trafficking efforts have ended. Which is a shame, since it was great to see a corporation make that commitment.Before he retired, my brother was the foremost legal expert on foster child law in the U.S., and there is an award for outstanding humane work on behalf of children in his name. I can assure anyone willing to research patiently that worldwide government website URLs and dedicated lawyers and journalists *do exist* who test and list legitimate charities and organizations across the world — organizations that really do fight human trafficking.SimpliCare isn’t the best choice for contributing to that kind of charity right now, but don’t worry. None of us has to stop there.But if you want a compact blood pressure monitor that, despite its fussy strap, does its job on a nearly professional level, then SimpliCare is one of the best choices available.And it’s an especially good choice for people who live in smaller spaces. And for those who need their medical devices to fit on a single tray.
