What route is appropriate for initial fluid administration in hypovolemia during cardiac arrest?

• A. Oral
• B. Subcutaneous
• C. IV/IO
• D. Intramuscular

Answer: (C)

Establishing rapid vascular access is essential because you need to deliver fluids and medications quickly to restore circulating volume during cardiac arrest with hypovolemia. The fastest, most reliable routes are intravenous or intraosseous. IV access allows immediate infusion of crystalloids and drugs; if IV access isn’t quickly attainable, intraosseous access provides a parallel, rapid route into the central circulation via the bone marrow. Other routes—oral, subcutaneous, or intramuscular—are too slow and unreliable when CPR is ongoing and peripheral perfusion is compromised, so absorption would be unpredictable or negligible. Therefore, IV or IO is the appropriate route for initial fluid administration in this scenario.