American EMT Academy Midterm Practice Test 2026 – The All-in-One Guide to Master Your EMT Exam!

Diabetic ketoacidosis causes metabolic acidosis, and the body responds by increasing ventilation to blow off carbon dioxide. This compensatory high-speed, deep breathing is known as Kussmaul respirations. It’s the hallmark pattern in DKA because the lungs work to reduce acidity by lowering CO2, helping raise the blood pH.

Other patterns point to different problems: Biot breathing is irregular with clusters of breaths followed by apnea and is linked to brain issues; Cheyne-Stokes features a cycle of growing and waning breaths with pauses, seen in heart failure or brain injury; apneustic breathing has a prolonged inspiratory pause, suggesting brainstem injury.