Your patient is unresponsive after a motorcycle crash. After opening the airway, which is the most appropriate next intervention if respirations are 6 with absent breath sounds on one side?

Your patient is unresponsive after a motorcycle crash. After opening the airway, which is the most appropriate next intervention if respirations are 6 with absent breath sounds on one side?

• A. Monitor vital signs
• B. Begin ventilation with a BVM
• C. Administer oxygen
• D. Check for spinal injury

Answer: (B)

In this scenario, the patient's low respiratory rate of six breaths per minute, coupled with absent breath sounds on one side, suggests a significant respiratory compromise, possibly due to a tension pneumothorax or a severe lung injury. When faced with such critical findings, the most urgent priority is to ensure adequate ventilation. Beginning ventilation with a bag-valve-mask (BVM) is the immediate and most appropriate response to ensure the patient is receiving adequate oxygenation and ventilation. This intervention helps support the patient's breathing until definitive measures can be taken to address the underlying cause of the respiratory distress, such as decompression or further medical intervention. Other options may provide some level of benefit or data but do not address the immediate life-threatening aspect of the patient's condition, which is their inadequate ventilation. Monitoring vital signs or administering oxygen alone does not suffice; although they are essential components of overall patient management, they do not directly resolve the critical issue of insufficient respirations. Checking for spinal injury is crucial in trauma assessments but would not take precedence over restoring and maintaining adequate ventilation in this situation.

In this scenario, the patient's low respiratory rate of six breaths per minute, coupled with absent breath sounds on one side, suggests a significant respiratory compromise, possibly due to a tension pneumothorax or a severe lung injury. When faced with such critical findings, the most urgent priority is to ensure adequate ventilation.

Beginning ventilation with a bag-valve-mask (BVM) is the immediate and most appropriate response to ensure the patient is receiving adequate oxygenation and ventilation. This intervention helps support the patient's breathing until definitive measures can be taken to address the underlying cause of the respiratory distress, such as decompression or further medical intervention.

Other options may provide some level of benefit or data but do not address the immediate life-threatening aspect of the patient's condition, which is their inadequate ventilation. Monitoring vital signs or administering oxygen alone does not suffice; although they are essential components of overall patient management, they do not directly resolve the critical issue of insufficient respirations. Checking for spinal injury is crucial in trauma assessments but would not take precedence over restoring and maintaining adequate ventilation in this situation.