If you hear adventitious sounds on auscultation, assess how these sounds change as the patient speaks. Voice assessment can provide important clues about respiratory abnormalities. Normal lungs are filled with air, and air does not transmit sound readily. Normally, transmitted voice sounds are difficult to hear – spoken words are muffled and indistinct and whispered words are usually not heard at all.
However, when substances such as fluid or solid masses replace air in the lungs, sounds are transmitted more clearly. The sounds that can be assessed are:
- Whispered pectoriloquy: Ask the patient to whisper a sequence of words such as “one-two-three”, and listen with a stethoscope. Normally, only faint sounds are heard. However, over areas of tissue abnormality, the whispered sounds will be clear and distinct.
- Bronchophony:Ask the patient to say "99" in a normal voice. Listen to the chest with a stethoscope. The expected finding is that the words will be indistinct. Bronchophony is present if sounds can be heard clearly.
- Egophony: While listening to the chest with a stethoscope, ask the patient to say the vowel “e”. Over normal lung tissues, the same “e” [as in "beet"] will be heard. If the lung tissue is consolidated, the “e” sound will change to a nasal “a” [as in "say"]. Click here to visit the Egophony/Aegophony YouTube video presented by Dr. Prodigious.
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If someone is injured in an incident, first check that you and the person who is injured are not in any danger. If you are, make the situation safe. When it's safe to do so, assess the person who is injured and, if necessary, dial 999 for an ambulance. You can then carry out basic first aid. The 3
priorities when dealing with a casualty are commonly referred to as ABC, which stands for: If the person appears unresponsive, ask them loudly if they're OK and if they can open their eyes.Assessing an injured person
Airway
If they respond, you can leave them in the position they're in until help arrives.
While you wait, keep checking their breathing, pulse and level of response:
- Are they alert?
- Do they respond to your voice?
- Is there no response to any stimulus [are they unconscious]?
If there's no response, leave the person in the position they're in and open their airway.
If this is not possible in the position they're in, gently lay them on their back and then try to open their airway.
To open the airway, place 1 hand on the person's forehead and gently tilt their head back, lifting the tip of the chin using 2 fingers. This moves the tongue away from the back of the throat.
Don't push on the floor of the mouth, as this will push the tongue upwards and obstruct the airway.
If you think the person may have a spinal injury, place your hands on either side of their head and use your fingertips to gently lift the angle of the jaw forward and upwards, without moving the head, to open the airway.
Take care not to move the person's neck. But opening the airway takes priority over a neck injury. This is known as the jaw thrust technique.
Breathing
To check if a person is still breathing:
- look to see if their chest is rising and falling
- listen over their mouth and nose for breathing sounds
- feel their breath against your cheek for 10 seconds
If they're breathing normally, place them in the recovery position so their airway remains clear of obstructions, and continue to monitor normal breathing.
Gasping or irregular breathing is not normal breathing.
If the person isn't breathing or is not breathing normally, call 999 for an ambulance and then begin CPR.
Circulation
If the person isn't breathing normally, you must start chest compressions immediately.
Agonal breathing is common in the first few minutes after a sudden cardiac arrest [when the heart stops beating].
Agonal breathing is sudden, irregular gasps of breath. This shouldn't be mistaken for normal breathing and CPR should be given straight away.
If the person isn't breathing, call 999 for an ambulance and then begin CPR.
First aid courses
The advice given on this page only covers common first aid situations and is not a replacement for taking a first aid training course.
Basic first aid courses are run regularly in most areas around the UK.
Organisations that offer courses include:
- St John Ambulance
- British Red Cross
- NHS Ambulance Service
- St Andrew's First Aid
Page last reviewed: 15 March 2022
Next review due: 15 March 2025