Your patient is a 32-year-old female with a history of epilepsy. Her fiance called EMS when she had a grand mal seizure. On your arrival, the patient responds to painful stimuli and has copious oral secretions, deep respirations at 28 per minute, and a radial pulse of 88. The fiance reports that the seizure lasted about 1 1/2 minutes. Which of the following represents the best course of action for this patient?
A) Administer oxygen by nonrebreathing mask at 15 liters per minute, start an IV of normal saline at a keep-open rate, and administer 5 mg of diazepam intravenously.
B) Administer oxygen by nonrebreathing mask, begin transport, check the blood glucose level en route, and start a saline lock as a precautionary measure.
C) See if the patient will tolerate an oropharyngeal airway, assist ventilations with a bag-valve-mask device and supplemental oxygen, start an IV of normal saline, check the blood glucose level, and administer 5 mg of diazepam intravenously.
D) Place the patient in recovery position, suction the oropharynx if necessary, apply oxygen by nasal cannula at 4 liters per minute, and monitor the patient's level of consciousness for improvement while obtaining a history from the fiance.
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