As I reflected on yesterdays video blog; “Gasping for Life”, I thought I should expound on what real agonal respirations really are and maybe even find some examples for you to see or hear. Well, let me tell you this has turned out to be more difficult than I imagined. As I searched the internet for some medical records of what I have seen during episodes of agonal respirations all I could find was one well intentioned but non realistic version of agonal respirations while everything else was simply informational. I then began thinking about the times I had seen low blood sugar patients or postictal seizure patients and thought…I bet a good snoring respiration would be close!
After some time, I found an actual serious sleep apnea(OSA) case and thought I would include the link in the video blog for you to see. Though this is not exactly what agonal respirations look or sound like, it is a far cry closer than other replications I found and will at least get the idea across that any form of agonal or distressed drive to breath is not oxygenating the body well and should be treated with Rescue Breathing or Full CPR depending on the symptoms.
I hope this helps clear up any confusion and please let me know if you would like me to expound on anything else relating to this video blog.
Best Wishes,
Roy Shaw, EMT-P
RoyOnRescue.com
Actual Video Of Sleep Apnea (Warning! This video could be disturbing. Viewer discretion advised.)
