Unresponsive 26-year-old motorcyclist with snoring respirations at 10/min and unequal chest rise. What is the immediate action?

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Multiple Choice

Unresponsive 26-year-old motorcyclist with snoring respirations at 10/min and unequal chest rise. What is the immediate action?

Opening the airway and delivering ventilation with a bag-valve mask is the immediate move because the patient is unresponsive with inadequate breathing and a suspected airway obstruction (snoring respirations). A nasal cannula cannot provide enough ventilation in this situation, and intubation isn’t the first step when the patient still has some breathing. Chest compressions are reserved for a pulseless or apneic patient with no effective breathing, which isn’t the case here. Use a jaw-thrust or head-tilt to open the airway, clear or suction as needed, and ventilate with a bag-valve mask to deliver breaths that produce visible chest rise, aiming about 10–12 breaths per minute (one every 5–6 seconds) until the patient demonstrates adequate effective breathing.

Opening the airway and delivering ventilation with a bag-valve mask is the immediate move because the patient is unresponsive with inadequate breathing and a suspected airway obstruction (snoring respirations). A nasal cannula cannot provide enough ventilation in this situation, and intubation isn’t the first step when the patient still has some breathing. Chest compressions are reserved for a pulseless or apneic patient with no effective breathing, which isn’t the case here. Use a jaw-thrust or head-tilt to open the airway, clear or suction as needed, and ventilate with a bag-valve mask to deliver breaths that produce visible chest rise, aiming about 10–12 breaths per minute (one every 5–6 seconds) until the patient demonstrates adequate effective breathing.

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