As I walked into the bedroom, it looked like there was more drama than necessary – more than I cared to deal with on this laconic Thanksgiving Day. Â Our 55-year-old female patient was sitting on the floor, propped against her bed. Â She was breathing fast and her CO2 levels were down – it looked like an anxiety attack, so I squatted down and tried to convince/coach her to slow her breathing down. Â But something didn’t look right.
She was trying to cooperate with me, but there was no way her breathing was slowing down. Â It was fast, about 40 respirations a minute, and deep. Â Her eyes were closed and I discovered she had some chest pain – which she was unable to describe. Â In fact, all of her concentration went into her breathing and I, as with the other medics in the room, were just a distraction.
It was at this point that I got very concerned.