Final answer:
When ventilating an adult patient with a bag-valve mask and noticing abdominal distention, the correct response is to apply cricoid pressure, not to decrease oxygen flow, suction the airway, or apply abdominal pressure.
Step-by-step explanation:
If you are ventilating an adult patient with a bag-valve mask and notice that the patient's abdomen is getting bigger, this could indicate that air is entering the stomach instead of the lungs, a situation known as gastric inflation. In this case, you should not apply pressure to the abdomen or decrease the flow of oxygen, as these actions could worsen the patient's condition. Instead, the correct course of action is to apply cricoid pressure, a technique designed to minimize the risk of gastric inflation by occluding the esophagus, thereby reducing the chance of air entering the stomach during artificial ventilation.
The student's question pertains to the technique of providing ventilation to an unconscious person, which is relevant to resuscitation efforts. It's important to remember that proper technique is critical when ventilating patients to prevent complications such as gastric inflation. Breathing and Boyle's Law play crucial roles in understanding how respiration functions in the human body, by describing the inverse relationship between volume and pressure within the respiratory system.