Basic Life Support (BLS) Practice Exam

As you assess a patient's breathing, which of the following is an appropriate action?

1. Only look for chest movement

2. Cover the patient's mouth

3. Feel for breathing against your cheek

4. Listen for heart sounds

The correct answer is: Feel for breathing against your cheek

Assessing a patient's breathing is a critical step in providing basic life support. An appropriate action during this assessment is to feel for breathing against your cheek. This technique involves getting close to the patient and placing your cheek near their mouth and nose, allowing you to sense any airflow. This method is practical because it enables you to directly confirm whether the patient is breathing and can be done rapidly to determine the next steps in treatment. Using this technique, you can quickly recognize the presence or absence of breathing, which is essential in an emergency situation. If breathing is detected, you can then monitor the patient's respiratory status. If no breathing is noted, you can proceed with appropriate interventions, such as rescue breaths or CPR, as needed. The other options lack effectiveness in assessing breathing. Simply looking for chest movement may miss shallow or irregular breaths. Covering the patient's mouth would block airflow and hinder the ability to assess breathing properly. Listening for heart sounds does not provide any information about the patient's respiratory status and is not an immediate assessment technique for breathing.