How to Treat Hyperventilation

Hyperventilation occurs when an anxious person breathes so rapidly that he or she cannot get enough carbon dioxide. The person will feel like he or she is suffocating.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Advanced First Aid Certification
• Evacuation Plan
• First Aid Books
• Wilderness First Aid Classes
• First Aid Kits
• Plastic Bags
• Evacuation Insurance
• First Aid Classes
• Stuff Sacks
• Plastic bags

1. Look for any of these signs and symptoms of hyperventilation: high anxiety, rapid and deep breathing, rapid pulse, a feeling of suffocation, dizziness or faintness, dry mouth, numbness in the hands and around the mouth, a feeling of paralysis in the hands, stabbing chest pain.

2. Calm the person down by identifying the source of anxiety and addressing it. Hyperventilation is often triggered in wilderness settings by a fear of heights, by equipment failures, or by a minor injury that causes anxiety.

3. Communicate continually with the injured person: explain that even though he or she feels a need for more oxygen, the problem is that he or she is getting too much of it, and that the symptoms will go away as breathing calms down.

4. Have the person breath into a stuff sack or other bag, covering both the nose and mouth with the bag. This will increase the amount of carbon dioxide in the blood.

Tips & Warnings

• If the person does not respond to treatment within 20 minutes, the ailment may be something other than hyperventilation. Other possibilities are asthma, heat exhaustion, and heat stroke.
• This information is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice or treatment.

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on 11/22/2005 Literature has always been saying to let a casualty showing signs of hyperventilation to breathe into a plastic bag. However, should this casualty exhibit a pale appearance, it could actually mean that the casualty is experiencing a lack of oxygen. By making the casualty breathe into a plastic bag, it would only limit his access to oxygen further.

Casualties showing signs of hyperventilation and a pale appearance, should be guided to breathe slowly and in deep breathes instead of using a plastic bag!