You have arrived on the scene of an assault involving a knife. assessment of the unresponsive 21-year-old male reveals him to have sustained multiple lacerations to the arms and abdomen, with a section of his intestine protruding through a large laceration to the area around the umbilicus. he has lost a significant amount of blood. his airway is open and he is breathing shallowly at a rate of 28. his radial pulse is weak and his skin is cool and pale. which action would the emt perform first?

Find the area which is the severest and begin working to stop the bleeding

Well. erm obesity, anorexia?

20 times a minute is usually the average respritory rate of an adult. additionally the patient is breathing on his own, is clearly maintaining his airway, and is intaking a sufficient amount of air. you shouldn't use a bag valve mask, cpap, or other form of positive pressure ventilation, unless the patient has lost control of his airway, and is not breathing (apneic) or has rapid breathing or slow and shallow respirations. this patient would most likely and should be put on an non-rebreather mask or nrb attached to 100% high flow oxygen at 15 l/min. don't use a nasal cannula, as the amount of oxygen it provides is limited with a rate of 6 l/min.