Final answer:
If you feel a distinct pulse in an adult patient but the patient has no normal breathing, the next step to provide care is to administer CPR.
Step-by-step explanation:
If you feel a distinct pulse in an adult patient but the patient has no normal breathing, the next step to provide care is to administer CPR. CPR, or cardiopulmonary resuscitation, is an emergency technique that helps maintain blood flow until the heart resumes beating. By providing chest compressions, you can manually compress the blood within the heart and push it into the circulation, which is critical for the brain and other organs. CPR should be performed until the patient regains spontaneous contraction or is declared dead by an experienced healthcare professional.
This approach is vital, particularly for the brain, since irreversible damage and neuron death occur within minutes of blood flow loss. CPR should be continued until the patient regains spontaneous contractions or is declared deceased by a healthcare professional.