I had a pt come in the other night severe resp. distress. We had little hx on the pt at the time except COPDer, and he could not talk (working to breathe). He was diaphoretic, rr 30+ guppy breathing, tachy,lethargic. Sats with good wave form 70%. Lungs sounded like crap. EMS had him on 4l nc.
RT was there took him off oxygen to get room air ABG, then back on 4l. During this sats dropping rapidly down to 60% and they were not coming up....rr increasing along with hr.
I wanted to put him on a NRB, another nurse said no he's a retainer.....waht are you thinking??? I was a little upset with this.....my response was so we let him code & then do something? My thinking if you need oxygen you need oxygen.... treat what you see in front of you. His ABG ph 7.2, PCO2 60, HCO3 30.
Just wondering how you all would respond to a pt like this?
btw...I posted this in pulmonary also to gain more feedback