EMT here so I don’t know everything,
But I have worked with COPD distressed pt’s many times.
I am mildly dyslexic and this helped me discover how I could increase my endurance
and assist distressed pt’s.
The old “In through the Nose and Out Through the Mouth” method, well I got it turned around and its only valid when supplementing oxygen with a nasal cannula anyway and I have poor exchange through my nostrils.
So, when responding to emergency calls and arriving on scene before the Ambulance (1st Responder) I would coach these Pt’s by having them breath in through the mouth and out through the nose and by doing the same myself as I coach and the results would be remarkable.
Then when Hunting in the Colorado Mountains I would become short of breath very quickly and started using my method and I became much better able to continue my uphill walk without becoming SOB.
When we become Short of Breath for whatever reason our increase in respiratory rate leads to poor exchange. By breathing the way I do slows the rate and breathing out through the nose in my case (restriction from broken nose) I am doing to a lesser extent what a C-Pap device is designed to do.
Therefore with Pt’s that can exchange easily through the nose I coach those to close off one nasal passage.
And I have had Pt’s that just couldn’t handle exhaling through the nose and rate coaching is even hard.