You are dispatched to the scene of an assault with police on the scene. you arrive to find a 28-year-old female victim who received a blow to the side of the neck with a blunt object and was robbed. the patient is sitting on the curb, conscious and well oriented, but is sobbing inconsolably. a bystander is holding a jacket on the patient's open wound but is not in control of the bleeding. the patient has a respiratory rate of 16 and a radial pulse of 92. which initial treatment step would be most appropriate?