What will you do if the patient in a mechanical ventilator suddenly goes into severe respiratory distress

and the patient is difficult to ventilate manually?

If that will happen to the patient then, as a nurse I will elevate the head of the bed of the patient into 30-
45 degrees and suction catheter down the airway to confirm an unobstructed tube. Then, auscultate the
lungs and if sounds are absent unilaterally, next is call and inform the physician using SBAR and ask to
perform needle thoracentesis to relieve pneumothorax. Unilateral sounds without hemodynamic
compromise may also suggest migration of the tube into the right mainstem or proximal airway
obstruction from secretions. Using auscultation, it helps to confirm airway position.

Hill, B. (2020). Principles of mechanical ventilation for non-critical care nurses. British Journal of Nursing,
29(8), 470–475. https://doi.org/10.12968/bjon.2020.29.8.470