I read that the average person breathes about 14 times per minute. So I tried to count mine.
But I can’t do this. I seem to be holding my breath, or not doing it naturally.
Why? It is just because I am aware of it?
yup, guess so.
when i’m aware of my breathing (like now), i tend to breathe deeper and slower. i suppose that holds true for most of us out there.
They taught us that when we take respiratory rate, do it while we are taking a pulse. As in count the heartbeat for 15 seconds and then the resp rate for another 15 or 20. When a person knows that you are counting how many times per minute they are breathing, it will affect their rate. Generally it is around 12-14 in a healthy person but for some reason the nurses around here always write 20 no matter what. Breathing is a weird semi-automatic thing that is totally automatic until you concentrate on it. Interestingly, there is a brain lesion nicknamed Ondine’s Curse where you lose automatic breathing ability, and have to concentrate on your breathing all the time. It is terrible, especially during sleep. IIRC they treat this with positive pressure masks and the like to prevent you from half-suffocating while asleep.
edwino - The reason that hospital staff always charts 20 breaths per minute is because that is the “normal” rate traditionally. This error came about as follows: The first time people started counting breaths seriously was when ether anesthesia was introduced. However, ether increases the respiratory rate considerably (we now realize). So, basically, when a nurse’s aide or a nurse charts a respiratory rate of 20, it means “I didn’t actually count it but the patient seemed to be breathing fine to me.”
You’re wrong. Respiration Rates for Humans from, “Emergency Care”, Brady et al, 2001. Prentice Hall
Adequate Breathing Rates chart, page 108
Adult- 12-20 per minute
Child- 15-30 per minute
Infant- 25-50 per minute.
New Federal Guidelines define the ages as follows:
Adult- Age 9 to Death
Child- Age 1-9
Infant- Birth to age 1
The nurses do not write 20 regardless, they’re not being lazy. If you are at rest for a long period of time, or you are a very slow breather you might hit 12-14 per minute. In the field when I am dealing with a patient, I find that 16-24 is the normal range for anything from age 12- adult.
I too use the trick of combining pulse and respiration rates, it makes the patient look at their wrist as you take their “pulse” and breathe without being self conscious about it.
Varloz, I’d never heard that before- VERY cool. It goes back to Ether use, huh? It makes sense. I have to pass that along. I’d still stand by my assertion that they’re not being lazy, they’re assessing the respiratory rate as adequate.
Cartooniverse
I must not have gotten enough sleep last night, or maybe I’m just still POd about the Braves losing, but that seemed unnecessarily harsh.
Whatever happened to “I disagree, and here’s why”?
Interesting but why the second you become aware you are breathing does it effect you?
It’s because you can exercize control over your breathing consciously. You can choose to breathe whenever you want, with whatever pace you want, if you concentrate on it, and don’t overly deprive yourself of oxygen. When you are checking your breathing rate, you begin to concentrate on your breathing, and will force yourself to breathe in a desired pattern.
I’d think of it as being self-conscious about the results. Am I breathing too fast? or too slow? what’s the right rate? Once you start thinking like that, you will change the way you breathe to fit the results you want.
A couple of rules in the EMS biz:
“Less than 8, intubate”. Referring to the Glasgow Coma Score, which runs from 1-15.
“If they can take a tube, they NEED a tube”. See above.
12-20 is normal. Tell a patient your counting—it’ll be above 20.
No patient ever complains that the O2 is flowing too fast.
Buck The Diver <—ya want your NC @ 10 LPM!!!
I didn’t mean to imply that the nurses are lazy. In fact, the nurses with which I interact are usually very hard working, and I depend on them tremendously. I respect that they are actually the ones doing the bulk of patient care, and I should hope that I treat them with appropriate respect.
It is just, for some quirk, on any VS sheet I get, no matter if it is an COPD patient or somebody ODing on heroin (maybe I exaggerate), the RR is left blank or a 20 is written. All the other vitals are usually spot on. No insult to nurses, no insult to anyone else. In terms of vitals, though, I have found few people who have a RR of close to 20 without pathology. That’s all I’m saying.