David Key, Director
Macon County Emergency Services Office (828) 349-2067
Scanner: 155.325 Mhz
For emergencies:
Dial 9-1-1
Macon County Emergency Services
125 Hyatt Road
Franklin, NC 28734
Crime Scene Awareness
Topics Covered in this Web Training Session:
Risk Reduction at Scene
Violent Situations
Evasive Techniques
Evidence Considerations
First and Foremost: THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A DEAD HERO!!!!
Your safety strategy should begin as soon as you are dispatched on a call.
When you are dispatched on a potentially violent call, you should:
Never follow law enforcement into a scene.
Never approach the scene until you are advised it is secure.
Approach potentially unsafe scenes in a single file.
Hold a flashlight to the side of your body not the front.
Stand to the side of the door when knocking.
Potentially dangerous scenes:
Highway encounters
Violent street scenes
Murders, assaults, robberies
Dangerous crowds
Street gangs
Drug-related crimes
Clandestine drug labs
Domestic violence
Dangerous Crowds and Bystanders should ALWAYS be cause for concern.
Signs of impending danger will include
Shouts or increasingly loud voice
Pushing or shoving
Hostilities toward anyone
Rapid increase in crowd size
Inability of law enforcement to control bystanders
Street Gangs - Crips, Bloods, Almighty Latin Nation, just to name a few
NO EMS personnel is totally immune from gang activity
Drug-related Crimes - drugs and violence go hand-in-hand because of high cash flow,
addiction and weapons >>> dangerous combination.
Each EMS provider should be aware of the signs and symptoms that the patient has been using illicit drugs.
The following are signs of drug involvement:
Prior history of drugs in the neighborhood
Drug related comments by bystanders
Drug paraphernalia
Common abused substances sold on the streets:
Clandestine Drug Labs -
Labs are becoming more common place.
Used to manufacture LSD, methamphetamine, crack and more
The scene is a HAZMAT situation
Actions to be taken by the EMS provider:
Leave the area immediately
DO NOT touch anything
Never stop any chemical reactions already in progress
Notify the police
Do not smoke near lab
Initiate ICS and HAZMAT procedures
Consider evacuation of area
Tactical considerations:
Your best response to violence is observation
Use these safety tactics to STAY SAFE:
Retreat - move away from danger
Cover and Concealment - protection by placing something solid between yourself and danger
Distraction and evasion - throw equipment and/or objects between you and attacker
Warning signals and communication - be aware of defensive body language and demeaning tone in conversation
Tactical Patient Care
Increasing violence >>> increased chances of being involved in a violent or
potentially violent situation.
Tactical EMS
The provision of care in the hot zone, such as sniper situations, often necessitates
risks far beyond those found on most EMS calls.
Medical personnel assigned to such incidents require special training and
authorization known as Tactical EMS (TEMS)
How does TEMS differ from routine EMS. . . . . . .
The major priority is to extract the patient from the hot zone, and moved to tactical cold zones.....routine EMS is not going in until the scene is secure.
Care may be modified to meet tactical requirements
More trauma than medical
Treatment and transport decisions must almost always be through IC.
EMS at Crime Scenes.....
The main goal of performing EMS at crime scenes is to provide high - quality patient care while preserving evidence
NEVER jeopardize patient care for the sake of evidence....however, do not perform patient care with disregard to evidence either.
Should be well versed in situational awareness, if it looks like evidence then it probably is.
Labs are becoming more common place.
