Between rounds of chest compressions, how long should you pause to check for an independent breath?

• A. 10 seconds
• B. 5 seconds
• C. 2 seconds
• D. 15 seconds

Answer: (B)

The main idea here is keeping interruptions to chest compressions as brief as possible while you assess whether the animal is breathing on its own. You pause just long enough to check for a spontaneous breath, then resume compressions.

Five seconds is the best choice because it gives enough time to visually detect chest rise or listen/feel for breathing, but is short enough to keep perfusion from dropping due to a longer pause. Pausing longer—like ten or fifteen seconds—reduces the blood flow generated by compressions and can lower the chances of a successful outcome. Pausing for only a couple of seconds might not give you a reliable read on whether there’s an independent breath.

So, pause about five seconds between rounds of chest compressions to check for an independent breath, then continue if no spontaneous breathing is detected.