As long as you can see some chest rise and hear breath sounds with the stethoscope.
Many people overuse the term ARDS even in the hospitals.
However, I thought you might to read a little more as to how the ARDS protocol is used by Flight teams.
http://www.ems1.com/ems-products/ambulances/articles/387343-Breathing-Life-into-ARDS/
It is an interesting topic and now with the H1N1, flu associated ARDS, it is a very, very deadly condition.
