Your Patient Is a 20-Year-Old College Student Who Has Fallen

Your patient is a 20-year-old college student who has fallen from a third-level balcony onto a wooden deck below.The patient responds to verbal stimuli,is pale in color with moist skin,and has a very obvious deformity with protruding bone ends of his right forearm.Which of the following is the BEST sequence of intervention for this patient?

A) Provide manual in-line stabilization of the cervical spine along with assessment of breathing, pulse, and the presence of significant hemorrhage; apply high-concentration oxygen; perform a rapid trauma exam; immobilize to a long backboard; transport; and splint the extremity en route if time and resources allow.
B) Open the airway; assess breathing; check the carotid pulse; splint the forearm injury; immobilize the patient to a long backboard; apply high-concentration oxygen; and transport.
C) Provide immediate manual in-line stabilization of the cervical spine; apply high-concentration oxygen by nonrebreather mask; perform a focused history and assessment; apply the cervical collar; apply a padded board splint, sling, and swathe to the forearm injury; and transport.
D) Provide manual in-line stabilization of the cervical spine along with assessment of breathing, pulse, and the presence of significant hemorrhage; apply high-concentration oxygen; perform a rapid trauma exam; immobilize to a long backboard; and check with medical control about the need to splint the forearm injury prior to transport.