You are ventilating a 65 year old pt who is intubated. The capnograph shows the CO2 levels gradually, decreasing to 15 mmHg. You should

Prepare for the Paramedic Readiness Exam 4 with our engaging quiz. Hone your skills with targeted questions, hints, and in-depth explanations. Excel on your exam with confidence!

Capnography reflects how well CO2 is being delivered to and expelled from the lungs. A gradual drop in end-tidal CO2 in an intubated patient usually means less effective ventilation to the alveoli, most often from a loss of seal around the tube. A cuff leak is a common cause: air escapes around the endotracheal tube instead of going into the lungs, so the exhaled CO2 at the end of exhalation falls.

So the first step is to check for a cuff leak—inspect the cuff integrity, verify cuff pressure, and listen for air escaping around the tube. If a leak is present, reinflate the cuff to restore the seal and recheck the capnography. This addresses the underlying issue directly; adjusting ventilation rate could mask the problem or worsen ventilation if the tube isn’t delivering breaths effectively, and repositioning or other steps don’t fix the leak around the tube.