Paramedic A&P Practice Exam

Resting respiratory rate measures how many breaths a person takes in one minute while at rest. For healthy adults, the normal resting range is about 12 to 20 breaths per minute, and 12 is commonly cited as the average value used in many clinical references. So 12 breaths per minute best represents the typical resting rate you’d expect to see described as the average.

To measure it accurately, count the chest rises for 30 seconds and multiply by two, or count for a full minute if you want precision. Rates can rise with fever, pain, anxiety, metabolic demand, or respiratory illness, and can fall with sleep or certain medications. A rate around 10 breaths per minute would be considered bradypnea for most adults, while 14 or 16 breaths per minute are still within the normal range but are not the standard average most commonly cited.