Content

• Steps

Breathing rate is one of the most important indicators of a health condition. Normally, we put oxygen into our bodies when we inhale and exhale CO2 when we exhale. Checking your breathing rate is an important step in helping to ensure that your respiratory organs are healthy and functioning properly.

Steps

Part 1 of 2: Respiratory Rate Measurement

1. 

   Count the number of breaths. Respiration is measured in breaths per minute. To get an accurate reading, the person measured needs to relax, not breathe faster than usual because of exercise. After the person has been inactive for at least 10 minutes, you can start counting breaths.
   • Help the person who needs to measure breathing to sit up. If you are measuring infant breathing, help your baby lean on a sturdy flat surface.
   • Use a stopwatch to count breaths per minute. Count the number of times the chest rises and falls in one minute.
   • If it is revealed that you are preparing to measure, the person will automatically change his breathing without even realizing it. Just tell the person to breathe normally. To get more accurate results, you can take 3 measurements and average them.

2. 

   
   
   Guess whether the person's breathing is normal or not. Since children usually breathe faster than adults, you need to compare the results with the number of normal breaths for each age group. Normal breaths would be as follows:
   • 30 to 60 breaths per minute for infants 0 to 6 months of age
   • 24 to 30 breaths per minute for infants 6 to 12 months of age
   • 20 to 30 breaths per minute for children 1 to 5 years old
   • 12 to 20 breaths per minute for children 6 to 11 years old
   • 12 to 18 breaths per minute for people 12 years of age and older

3. 

   
   
   Detection of symptoms affecting the respiratory process. If a person's breathing rate is higher or lower than the aforementioned level and he or she is not exercising, this could be a sign of respiratory distress. Some other signs of this disease are:
   • Blow your nostrils when you breathe.
   • The skin is dark in color.
   • The ribs and mid-chest are contracted.
   • The person lets out a wheezing sound that is like groaning or crying while breathing.

4. 

   
   
   Check breathing in minutes as needed. If you are with someone who needs a regular breathing check, check every 15 minutes for non-emergencies. If the person is in critical condition, check breathing every 5 minutes.
   • Checking your breathing by the minute can help you recognize warning signs when the condition goes bad, the patient is in shock, and other changes.
   • If possible, record the patient's breathing in minutes in case you need to go to hospital.
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Part 2 of 2: Getting Medical Help

1. 

   Call emergency therapist right away if you or someone else is having trouble breathing. This is because breathing too fast or too slow can be symptoms of:
   • Asthma
   • Worry
   • Pneumonia
   • Heart failure
   • Overdosing
   • Fever

2. 

   Use a breathing aid. If someone needs respiratory assistance, a doctor can use several methods of oxygen supplementation such as:
   • Use an oxygen mask. This type of mask fits snugly against the face, can provide more oxygen. Normally, the air in the environment only contains 21% oxygen, but if someone is having difficulty breathing, they need to breathe more oxygen than that.
   • Use continuous positive pressure machine. A breathing tube is placed in the nose and oxygen is pushed in with little air pressure to clear the airways and lungs.
   • Ventilatory. Place a snorkel in a person's mouth and airway. The oxygen can then be pushed directly into the lungs.

3. 

   Limit breathing too fast because of anxiety. Some people breathe too quickly (also known as hyperventilation) when they are anxious or frightened. This makes the person feel like they have stopped breathing despite the fact that they are breathing in too much oxygen because they are breathing too fast. If someone near you has this problem, you can:
   • Reassure and help the person relax. Affirm that the person has no heart attack and is not in danger of life. Let's say everything is fine.
   • Ask the person to follow a breathing method that reduces the amount of oxygen he inhales. The person may blow into a paper bag, pout, or block a nostril and mouth while breathing. After the CO2 and oxygen in the respiratory system return to normal equilibrium, the person should feel better.
   • Advise the person to see a doctor.
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