Posted: December 11th, 2017

The high-pressure alarm on a patient’s ventilator goes off. When you enter the room to assess the patient, who has ARDS, the oxygen saturation monitor reads 87% and the patient is struggling to sit up. Which action should you take next?

The high-pressure alarm on a patient’s ventilator goes off. When you enter the room to assess the patient, who has ARDS, the oxygen saturation monitor reads 87% and the patient is struggling to sit up. Which action should you take next?

A. Reassure the patient that the ventilator will do the work of breathing for him
B. Manually ventilate the patient while assessing possible reasons for the high-pressure alarm
C. Increase the fraction of inspired oxygen on the ventilator to 100% in preparation for endotracheal suctioning
D. Insert an oral airway to prevent the patient from biting on the endotracheal tube