Question

Your 76-year-old female patient is having trouble breathing. When you auscultate her lungs, you hear crackles (rales) and you are concerned that she may have pulmonary edema. Her oxygen saturation is 92%, so you place her on 100% oxygen via a nonrebreather mask. Her breathing gets a little easier with the oxygen. You decide to expedite transport since she is anxious about her condition. Later, as you are completing your reassessment, you see that her respirations have slowed to 8 times per minute and she is barely staying awake. What should you do next?
A) Ask your partner to pull over and wait for ALS backup.
B) Assist her with using her metered-dose inhaler.
C) Shake her to keep her awake.
D) Begin ventilating her with a bag-valve mask.

Answer

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