AHA Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS) Practice Exam 2025 – Complete Study Resource

When a child presents with a decrease in respiratory rate to 8 breaths per minute, this indicates hypoventilation, which can lead to inadequate oxygenation and carbon dioxide retention. Initiating rescue breathing is an immediate and critical intervention to address this life-threatening situation.

Rescue breathing involves providing breaths to the child to ensure that oxygen is delivered and carbon dioxide is removed from the body. This is essential in preventing respiratory arrest and in stabilizing the child’s condition until further help can be obtained or until the child begins to breathe adequately on their own.

While supplemental oxygen may be beneficial in some situations to improve oxygen saturation, it does not directly address the immediate problem of insufficient ventilation that occurs with a severely low respiratory rate. Likewise, initiating chest compressions is not appropriate in this case because chest compressions are indicated primarily in the absence of a pulse or cardiac arrest rather than in situations of respiratory depression. Although calling for advanced medical assistance is important, the immediate action necessary to ensure ventilation takes precedence. Therefore, initiating rescue breathing is the most direct and appropriate action to take in response to a critically low respiratory rate.