How can you confirm that a patient's airway is patent?

To confirm that a patient's airway is patent, visually inspecting and listening for air movement is a crucial approach. This method allows the healthcare provider to observe any physical obstructions in the airway and hear the sounds associated with airflow. If the patient is able to breathe normally and air can be heard moving in and out of the mouth and nose, it indicates that the airway is open and functioning properly.

While other methods, such as asking the patient to cough, might provide additional information about the airway's condition, they do not offer a direct confirmation of patency. Coughing may be useful to assess respiratory function but does not intrinsically confirm that the airway is fully unobstructed. Administering breathing treatments is focused on addressing respiratory distress rather than assessing airway patency, and measuring blood oxygen levels, while important for evaluating overall respiratory function, does not directly confirm that the airway itself is clear.