An alert and oriented young male fell 5 feet from a stage, impacting a metal railing with the right side of his chest, just under his armpit. The primary assessment is negative for life threats, although he does complain of very painful breathing and has remarkable tenderness and crepitus over the 5th rib laterally in this area. Throughout care, what action is essential to perform?

Monitor breath sounds

Explanation:

The person fell from 5 feet of height which impacted his chest and armpit area. The person got blunt trauma due to falling from height which might have cause pulmonary contusion, also known as lung contusion, is a lung bruise, caused by damage to the lungs (do not tear or cut lung tissues).

Due to this trauma person is having difficulty in breathing and feeling tenderness. The essential action to take for the person is to monitor breath sounds. Lung ascultation or monitoring is an important part of the respiratory test and helps in the diagnosis of various respiratory disorders. Auscultation tests airflow through the bronchial-trachea branch. To make a correct diagnosis, it is important to differentiate between normal respiratory sounds and abnormal ones, such as wheezes,  crackles and pleural rub.

Hence, the correct answer is monitor breath sounds.