You are dispatched to a skilled nursing facility for a medical aid. You arrive on scene and find an 85 Y/O female lying in bed complaining of extreme shortness of breath, weakness and fatigue. You immediately notice the patient is tachypnic with accessory muscle usage. The facility staff tell you the patient has a history of CHF.

Vital Signs

• Pulse: 128 bpm
• Respirations: 30 per minute
• Blood pressure: 188/102 mmHg
• Eyes: PERL @ 3 mm
• LOC: Alert
• Lung sounds: Crackles/Rales bilaterally
• Skin: Pale, cool and clammy

Quiz

Congestive heart failure (CHF) is indicative of which of the following:

Discussion

Use the comment system below to explain how you would handle this scenario.