A natural gas explosion has destroyed an apartment building. At least five occupants have been killed and another 12 injured. You are in charge of triage and are presented with a young woman who is breathing at a rate of 40 breaths per minute. Using the Simple Triage and Rapid Transport (START) system for triaging, you should immediately:

a. place a red tag on the patient and move on to the next patient.
b. start assisting ventilation with a BVM.
c. apply oxygen with a nonrebreather face mask.
d. check for a radial pulse.

Answer: a