How should a medic assess a patient's airway?

Assessing a patient's airway is a critical step in ensuring effective ventilation and overall respiratory function. Checking for obstruction directly targets the most immediate concern, which is whether the airway is clear for airflow. An obstruction can be caused by various factors, such as the tongue falling back in an unconscious patient or foreign objects in the airway.

By successfully identifying any obstructions, a medic can take rapid action to secure the airway, which often involves methods such as repositioning the head, performing the Heimlich maneuver, or using suction if necessary. This assessment is fundamental because an obstructed airway can lead to hypoxia, brain injury, or death if not quickly addressed.

Other methods listed, such as listening for heart sounds or measuring oxygen saturation, serve different purposes within the assessment of a patient's overall condition but do not specifically pinpoint the status of the airway. Similarly, performing a breathing treatment comes into play after assessing the airway and if breathing is found to be inadequate, but it is not part of the initial airway assessment protocol. Therefore, checking for obstruction is the most pertinent action for assessing a patient's airway.