You arrive at a skilled nursing facility and find a patient not breathing but with a rapid carotid pulse. What is the appropriate action?

Maintaining the airway and transporting the patient immediately is the appropriate action in this scenario. When a patient is not breathing but has a rapid carotid pulse, there is a critical need to ensure the airway is open and functional, as the absence of breathing indicates that the patient is not receiving sufficient oxygen. Rapid transport to a medical facility enables advanced care that could be life-saving.

In this situation, while artificial ventilations might be a viable immediate action, the nature of the rapid pulse suggests that there may still be a chance for effective intervention, which supports urgent transport over non-transport options. Palliative care and notifying the family may be necessary in certain contexts, but they are not immediate priorities when the situation demands urgent medical intervention and assessment at a healthcare facility.