In a busy trauma room, a team is working on the victim of a terrible car accident. When the patient first arrived, she was able to answer the questions of the trauma team. Suddenly, alarms start to go off as the patient loses consciousness. A nurse cries out, “She’s decompensating!” One of the technicians, who is tasked with keeping track of the patient’s vitals, looks at the monitors. Which of the following readings would she likely see on the machine at this point?

Question

Pulse 78, Resp 20, BP 120/80

Pulse 46, Resp 35, BP 140/90

Pulse 140, Resp 10, BP 90/60

Pulse 0, Resp 0, BP 0

Answer 1

In a trauma situation where the patient is suddenly losing consciousness and decompensating, you would expect to see vital signs that indicate a deterioration of the patient's condition.

Among the options provided, the reading that most likely reflects this deterioration is:

Pulse 140, Resp 10, BP 90/60

This combination shows a high pulse rate (tachycardia), low respiratory rate (hypoventilation), and low blood pressure (hypotension), all of which are consistent with a patient who is decompensating due to shock or severe distress.

The other options either indicate stable/normal vital signs or suggest a catastrophic event (like pulse and respiration being zero, which would indicate death). Thus, the monitored vital signs in a patient who is decompensating would likely show increased heart rate and signs of inadequate perfusion, making the third option the most appropriate.