Your patient is a 15-year-old male with a history of multiple prior hospitalizations for asthma.Upon your arrival the patient responds only to painful stimuli and is making very weak respiratory effort.Which of the following should you do next?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The patient is in a critical condition with weak respiratory effort, indicating respiratory failure. The immediate intervention should be to assist the patient's ventilations with a bag-valve-mask device and supplemental oxygen. Contacting medical control should also be done as soon as possible, but not before assisting the patient's ventilations. Checking the patient's oxygen saturation level and assisting him with his inhaler are not appropriate interventions in this situation as the patient is not able to maintain adequate ventilation.

Your Patient Is a 15-Year-Old Male with a History of Multiple