MDSC2001

Respiration 2014/15

Problem 3

Too Much To Drink!

ake, a 21 year old man was out celebrating with friends. Unfortunately, despite being warned
by his parents not to drink alcohol if he was riding his motorbike, Jake drank way too much!

On his way back home, the inevitable happened... Jake was involved in a serious accident and
sustained injuries to his neck, which resulted in paralysis of his upper and lower limbs. Within a
few minutes Jake complained of a heavy feeling in his chest and he became dyspnoeic. At the
emergency centre some of his test results were as follows:

Parameter
Respiration rate in supine position
Minute ventilation
Vital capacity (VC) in supine position

Valu
e
30
6
650

Unit
breaths/min
L/min
ml

PaO2

62

mmHg

PaCO2

47

mmHg