Deck 14: Crime Scene Awareness

Question 1

You are dispatched to a residence for an unknown medical problem. The location is in an area of town known for gang activity and violent crimes. As you approach the scene, you see a residence that is poorly lit, with no lights on and no one visible nearby. Which of the following describes the safest approach to this situation?

A) Drive past the residence and stage around the corner until the police arrive.
B) Park just past the residence and approach the front door at an angle.
C) Park in front of the residence, illuminating the front door with floodlights.
D) Park and exit the ambulance, knock on the front door while shouting, "Paramedics!"

Answer 1

Drive past the residence and stage around the corner until the police arrive.

Question 2

You are on the scene of a call for an injured woman. Your scene size-up did not reveal any indications of danger. On assessing the patient, she tells you that she was beaten with a telephone receiver by her estranged husband. Before you can request law enforcement assistance, the husband returns with a baseball bat and threatens to kill you if you don't leave the house and states, "She's staying here," in reference to the patient. The assailant is standing with the bat held above his shoulder, ready to swing. Which of the following is the best course of action?

A) Try to reason with the husband, using the techniques you learned for dealing with behavioral emergencies, while your partner goes outside to request law enforcement.
B) Retreat from the residence, leaving the patient behind; move your vehicle away from the address; and request law enforcement.
C) Carry out the "take-down" approach you and your partner have practiced for such a situation.
D) Inform the assailant that you will leave but that you have to take the patient with you.

Answer 2

Retreat from the residence, leaving the patient behind; move your vehicle away from the address; and request law enforcement.

Question 3

Particulate evidence is best described as:

A) small hairs, fibers, and other items that cannot readily be seen with the naked eye.
B) evidence that is found at a secondary crime scene.
C) residue from blood that has been washed away but can be seen with Luminol.
D) microscopic blood splatter.

Answer 3

small hairs, fibers, and other items that cannot readily be seen with the naked eye.

Question 4

A woman has called 911 due to difficulty breathing. As you arrive at the scene, you observe a dilapidated home with all windows covered and several improvised vents in the roof. The woman comes outside as you approach and says "Don't go inside, let's just go to the hospital." As you are loading her into the ambulance you smell a strong chemical smell and see fumes leaving the rooftop vents. How should you proceed?

A) Load the patient into the ambulance and proceed to the hospital after notifying the Drug Enforcement Administration of the address.
B) Ask the patient directly about the chemical smell and ventilating fumes.
C) Enter the house to look for evidence of a drug lab after turning the patient over to your partner.
D) Load the patient into the ambulance and notify dispatch that there is a suspected drug lab at the location and law enforcement is needed.

Question 5

You are on the scene of an assault. While you quickly assess the patient, your partner is observing the scene for danger. This is called the ________ approach.

A) decoy
B) contact and cover
C) defensive
D) covert evaluation

Question 6

You have just approached a residence for a report of an injured person. Which of the following safety measures should you take?

A) Contact dispatch and ask if there have ever been any violent crimes at this location.
B) Stay at least 3 feet away from anyone on scene.
C) Ensure that you have a clear path of egress at all times.
D) Tell your partner that it is his/her responsibility to protect you.

Question 7

You are transporting a patient to the hospital with a gunshot wound and are being accompanied in the patient compartment by a police officer. Just before going into cardiac arrest, the patient says, "It was Joey. Joey did this to me." The patient cannot be resuscitated and is pronounced dead in the emergency department. Which of the following is TRUE regarding the patient's dying declaration?

A) You should write a narrative account of the incident, including the patient's statement, and keep it for your personal records.
B) You should record the patient's statement verbatim in your prehospital care report.
C) It is not necessary for you to document it, because the patient technically did not die in the back of the ambulance.
D) It is not necessary for you to document it, because it was witnessed by law enforcement.

Question 8

Which of the following describes the BEST guideline for paramedics to follow to protect themselves from physical violence?

A) Obtain a permit and carry a firearm.
B) Wear body armor when dispatched on suspicious calls.
C) Retreat from the scene if threatened, even if it means leaving the patient behind.
D) Learn techniques of self-defense.

Question 9

While caring for a victim of domestic violence, the patient's partner returns and charges into the house with a handgun. You should:

A) flee immediately, seeking cover and overturning objects as you leave the home.
B) signal your partner to initiate your practiced "take-down" maneuvers.
C) put your hand up and say calmly, "We are here to help you."
D) grab the patient and seek cover.

Question 10

You have responded to a report of an unresponsive person in a vehicle on a dark city street. On arrival, you note the vehicle described by dispatch, but there is no one around it. Which of the following applies in this situation?

A) Park with the ambulance facing the front of the vehicle so you can illuminate the interior and easily survey for potential danger.
B) Park behind the vehicle and approach from the rear on the passenger's side while your partner remains behind the wheel of the ambulance.
C) Have your partner illuminate you with the spotlight so the vehicle occupant(s) can identify you as an EMS provider.
D) Park behind the vehicle and approach from the rear on the passenger's side while your partner approaches from the rear on the driver's side.

Question 11

You have started an IV at the scene of a crime and left some blood on the floor. Which of the following best describes the reason that you should notify police?

A) They need to protect themselves against bloodborne pathogens during their investigation.
B) It is not necessary to inform the police of this unless there is more than one victim.
C) There may be trace evidence underneath the blood.
D) The blood may complicate the investigation of blood-splatter evidence.

Question 12

Tactical EMS requires special training and authorization. All of the following items are ways that TEMS differs from routine EMS EXCEPT:

A) they treat more medical patients than trauma patients.
B) treatment must be coordinated with an incident commander.
C) the main priority is removing the patient from the hot zone.
D) chemical agents are used as defensive weapons.

Question 13

Which of the following is a common critique of body armor and its use by EMS providers?

A) It is too expensive and not worth it for EMS providers.
B) It requires too much training to use properly.
C) It provides a false sense of security.
D) It protects only against low-powered ammunition.

Question 14

On average, how many youth homicides occur each day in the United States?

A) 11
B) 16
C) 26
D) 36

Question 15

You have responded to the parking lot of a high school for an assault. On arrival, there is a crowd of 20 to 25 emotional juveniles standing around the scene. Which of the following is the best way to protect yourself?

A) Monitor the activity of the crowd and retreat if the situation escalates.
B) Ignore the crowd and do what is necessary to assess and treat the patient.
C) Confront the crowd and tell them they need to break up and leave the area.
D) Notify the school principal that these students need to return to class.

Question 16

You have responded to a call of patient at a rural location with difficulty breathing. As memory serves you, the farmhouse you are responding to has been abandoned for years. As you approach on the main road, you see several vehicles parked around the house, although it is apparent that the house is not in livable condition. For which of the following should you maintain a high index of suspicion?

A) The house may be structurally unsound.
B) The house is not the house you think it is, and is not abandoned.
C) The house may be serving as a clandestine drug lab.
D) The house has been occupied by a family who may be using a source of heat that releases carbon monoxide.

Question 17

According to the Division of Violence Prevention, arrest rates for violent crimes are highest among which age group?

A) 35-40
B) 13-20
C) 15-34
D) 20-40

Question 18

When using a flashlight to approach a scene at night, which of the following is the best way to position the flashlight for safety?

A) Switch the flashlight from hand to hand as you approach the scene.
B) Hold the flashlight off to one side of your body.
C) Hold the flashlight in front of you, sweeping the beam from side to side.
D) Hold the light with your arm extended above your head.

Question 19

You arrive at a residence for a call for an unknown problem. Outwardly, the scene appears safe. When you knock on the door, a distraught school-age child opens the door and says his father is holding his teenage sister and his mother hostage in a bedroom. Which of the following is the best course of action?

A) See if the child can get his father to agree to allow you to assess the hostages so you can inform law enforcement whether or not they have been harmed.
B) Retreat with the child, request law enforcement, and stage around the corner from the residence until law enforcement notifies you that the scene is secure.
C) Shout up the stairs that you are there to help in any way you can and see if you can talk the father down.
D) Find out from the child what kind of weapon is being used so you can decide if it is reasonable to overpower and restrain the father until law enforcement arrives.

Question 20

You are on the scene of a patient with a gunshot wound to the chest. Which of the following describes the best action for dealing with the victim's shirt?

A) Cut around any bullet holes, put the shirt in a plastic bag with the patient's other personal items, and transport it to the emergency department with the patient.
B) If you must leave the scene with the patient before police arrive, leave the shirt with a family member or bystander, and tell that person to give it to the police.
C) It is not necessary to preserve the bullet holes. Simply discard the shirt in a biohazard bag.
D) Cut around any bullet holes and give the shirt to police at the scene.

Question 21

You are caring for one of three people involved in a stabbing incident at a local bar. You move your patient into the back of the ambulance and begin care. Prior to leaving the scene, you find a knife in the patient's pocket. How should you proceed?

A) Bag the knife and take it to the hospital.
B) Place the knife in a belongings bag along with the patient's other personal effects.
C) Ask you partner to get a law enforcement officer and have the officer retrieve the knife.
D) Ask the patient if the knife was used during the incident.

Question 22

You are caring for a woman who was the victim of a drive-by shooting while in her apartment. There is a lot of clutter on the apartment floor, along with pools of blood. Which of the following is the BEST approach to this scene?

A) Carefully enter the scene while avoiding stepping in blood.
B) Ask law enforcement officers to bring the patient out to you.
C) Enter the scene quickly, without regard for the patient's blood.
D) Wipe away blood near the patient so you don't step in it.