Fire-Rescue and the Crime Scene

H.W. “Rus” Ruslander , MS , SCSA

Very often emergency situations occur where both law enforcement officers and emergency medical service personnel respond to the same situation. Both are there for specific reasons, the EMS personnel to aid the injured and save life, and law enforcement officers to solve the crime[1].

Any time a crime occurs, the criminal leaves physical evidence at the scene and some form of physical evidence is taken from the scene, even though it may not be readily obvious to the untrained eye. This trace evidence may very well be what will ultimately put the perpetrator behind bars. In many instances EMS personnel responding to the medical emergency either accidentally or inadvertently destroy this evidence. In cases where the victim is obviously dead, decomposing or in full rigor mortise, the application of EKG pads or other life detection methods could be avoided. If there is a probability that the victim is dead, consider having only one (1) responder enter the scene to make that determination. If there are signs of life, the full crew then enters and begins life saving procedures. Do not move the body of an obviously dead victim or go through the clothing to look for any form of identification. Leave this for the crime scene and/or medical examiner personnel. Clarification is needed for issues such as which task takes priority at a crime scene? Who is in charge when both EMS and law enforcement personnel are present at the scene? What can be done to alleviate the potential problem of evidence being destroyed or the scene altered? These issues can and should be addressed prior to any possibility of confusion or misunderstanding at an actual scene.

Fire/Rescue personnel frequently arrive on the scene of an incident prior to the police department. While their primary mission is to treat and transport an injured person, they also have a very important secondary mission. That secondary mission is to preserve the scene and the evidence contained therein under the given circumstances. To meet this goal, try to remember the acronym POET. This stands for Protect, Observe, Evaluate and Treat.

Protect yourself and your crew from injury and/or contamination. Protect the victim from further harm or injury. Finally, protect the scene from undue contamination and alteration. Keep unnecessary traffic to an absolute minimum and try to avoid unnecessary destruction of evidence.

Observe the scene and the victim. Look for possible perpetrators and for the routes they used in and out of the scene. If possible, DO NOT use the same path they could have used. This can prevent the loss of important evidence that the police can collect or document. Look for locations of bullet holes or where a sharp object has penetrated clothing. DO NOT cut thru these holes! Begin cutting the clothes away from those areas whenever possible.

Evaluate the scene upon your arrival. Decide the best routes for entering and exiting. Look for any signs of danger to you or your crew. If it feels wrong, wait! Call for the police and let them go in first to make sure the area is safe for you and your crew to enter. If asked to avoid a certain area, try to do so. They may know something you don’t and there isn’t time for an explanation. Your presence in those areas could cause important evidence to become altered or destroyed.

Treat each situation as if it will end up in court and you will be called as a witness to testify. If you restrict your actions to the treatment of the patient and stay away from those other areas, you will greatly reduce the possibility of being needed to testify in court. By following certain common sense routines, you will protect yourself and your crew from harm, provide the best possible treatment for your patient and provide the police with a scene that has been preserved as well as possible for their follow-up investigations.

As people who are called upon daily to serve the public, we can assist each other by working toward the same goal. That goal is to provide the best possible service while striving to help each other perform their particular function to their fullest capabilities.

Some suggestions about scene etiquette include the disposal of containers and wrappings used for medical supplies. While it is a given that haste in treatment equates to a usually higher survivability factor for the patient, sometimes the scene is left is such a state of disorder that it is very difficult for the police to differentiate between what was done during the commission of the crime and by the people providing aid! Prior to leaving the scene, rescue personnel should, when possible, clean up after themselves. If this is not possible due to the need to get the victim to the hospital, the crew from one of the pieces of support equipment should do the clean up. By clean up, I do not mean hose downs, or using shovels or push brooms. I mean simply picking up the pieces of packaging materials and putting them in a trash bag.

With regards to weapons found at the scene, if at all possible, LEAVE THEM ALONE! Do not secure them unless crew safety is really an issue. Crew safety is paramount! However, if for example, the scene is located in a bedroom, the victim is deceased and the weapon present, there is no apparent reason to touch, unload, de-cock or move the weapon. If the victim is still alive then for the safety of the victim and your crew, it may be necessary to move the weapon away from the immediate area. If it is necessary, handle the weapon as little as possible and only where contamination of latent fingerprints or other evidence is least likely to occur. Do not unload a firearm or  tape the blade of a sharp cutting instrument . De-cock and put the weapon on safe or lower the hammer only if necessary and only if you are totally familiar with the weapon. Report anything you did to change the scene to the police or another firefighter and document it in your report or make field notes about it.

Working as a team will result in higher quality results and stronger cases for the State Attorney’s Office to bring to trial. It will also result in lessening the chance of misunderstandings, destruction of important evidence or the drawing of erroneous conclusions.

One final note, just because you don’t see anything doesn’t mean there is no evidence present. Remember trace evidence? Crime scene units have special tools, lights, camera lenses and chemicals to locate, identify and recover this kind of evidence. Sometimes the absence of evidence can be as important as the presence of it.

It is not logical to attempt to make EMS personnel into police officers or police officers into EMS personnel except in those agencies that are true public safety departments. What needs to be done is a collaborative effort from EMS personnel and police agencies in the cross training of all personnel. Today, budgets and training times are limited and the crime rate increasing, the resources for public safety are tested to the limit. This taxes the resources of EMS and police personnel to the limit.[2]

EMS personnel need to become aware of the nature and significance of physical evidence at a crime scene, and if possible, retain the evidence intact for the police. Police officers need to be aware that the first and foremost responsibility of all of us is to save lives of victims and to assist EMS personnel rather than be a burden to them. Both should be aware of the need to communicate with each other.

EMS personnel need to be trained in the importance of trace evidence such as that which could be found on clothing once it has been removed from the scene. For example, a pair of panties could play a critical role in a homicide or sexual assault investigation. The presence of hair or semen from the suspect could lead to his identification and prosecution if poor or improper handling does not contaminate it.

EMS personnel need to be familiar with the chain of custody concept when dealing with items in a crime that could be excluded from a trial if not properly handled and documented. This is another area where cross training is critical.

Through training and the opening of lines of communication between fire and police agencies, problems that were historically inherent in the different perceptions between police and fire department methods, in treating a scene, are addressed. This can lead to a smooth working relationship with a minimum of misunderstandings and damage to the scene itself. Police officers will understand the needs and actions of the emergency medical personnel. The emergency medical personnel will understand the cause and effect that their actions have on the police officers ability to work the crime scene after the victim has been transported from the scene.

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