Question

Your rescue team arrives to find a 59-year-old man lying on the kitchen floor. You determine that he is unresponsive and notice that he is taking agonal breaths. What is the next step in your assessment and management of this patient?

a) Begin CPR
b) Assess pulse
c) Provide rescue breaths
d) Check the patient's pulse

Answer 1

After finding an unresponsive man with agonal breaths on the floor, check for a pulse and, if absent, immediately begin chest compressions at a rate of 100 per minute and continue until medical help arrives or the patient recovers.

Step-by-step explanation:

If you find a 59-year-old man lying on the kitchen floor, unresponsive and taking agonal breaths, the next step in your assessment and management of this patient is to check the patient's pulse and begin CPR if no pulse is present. Agonal breaths are not effective breathing and indicate a medical emergency, often cardiac arrest. After checking the pulse and confirming cardiac arrest, you should start with chest compressions immediately, as per CPR protocol which involves compressions of the chest at least 5 cm deep at a rate of 100 compressions per minute. This can help to manually compress the blood within the heart and maintain circulation, particularly critical for the brain to prevent irreversible damage. CPR should be continued until the patient regains spontaneous contraction or advanced medical personnel arrive.