A judgment question from the written exam...

[jjc5891]

I took an exam recently and I came across a question that I had to think a little about. I was wondering what the correct answer would be:

(I'll word it the best I can from memory)
A neighbor reported a dead women in her bedroom across the hall in an apartment building. Other neighbors notice and begin crowding the area and start talking about the situation. You (being an officer) arrive first on the scene. What would be the first action you should take?

A) Check the body for signs of life
B) Remove the pills on the nightstand for evidence
C) Call an ambulance
D) Disperse the neighbors and tell them to leave the scene

I think I ended up choosing D because in every book I read, it said that the first thing you should is secure the scene and prevent contamination and damage to critical evidence. The more I kept thinking about it, the more I was led to choices A and C, but knowing that she was dead and not being a fully trained paramedic kept leading me back to answer D.

[Plazoo]

I took an exam recently and I came across a question that I had to think a little about. I was wondering what the correct answer would be:

(I'll word it the best I can from memory)
A neighbor reported a dead women in her bedroom across the hall in an apartment building. Other neighbors notice and begin crowding the area and start talking about the situation. You (being an officer) arrive first on the scene. What would be the first action you should take?

A) Check the body for signs of life
B) Remove the pills on the nightstand for evidence
C) Call an ambulance
D) Disperse the neighbors and tell them to leave the scene

I think I ended up choosing D because in every book I read, it said that the first thing you should is secure the scene and prevent contamination and damage to critical evidence. The more I kept thinking about it, the more I was led to choices A and C, but knowing that she was dead and not being a fully trained paramedic kept leading me back to answer D.

I would have picked A. B is a no brainer. C-Dispatch should already have a medical team en route. D-the statement doesn't say if the neighbors are in the hallway or in the bedroom. Either way, making sure she isnt alive is most important since, if she is, time is crucial. If she is dead, you could always kick the neighbors away after determining her condition.

[jjc5891]

I would have picked A. B is a no brainer. C-Dispatch should already have a medical team en route. D-the statement doesn't say if the neighbors are in the hallway or in the bedroom. Either way, making sure she isnt alive is most important since, if she is, time is crucial. If she is dead, you could always kick the neighbors away after determining her condition.

"A" was going to be my second choice. The reason I ended up going against it was because I thought the situation wouldn't change based upon you knowing if she was or wasn't dead. I do agree that time is crucial if she wasn't dead, but there's not much you can do besides wait for the paramedics who should already be on the way.

[hitnrun]

Any time there is a question involving saving/checking for life, it will always be the answer. ;)

[smcc360]

Check her, and call an ambulance.

Touch the pills? No; touch nothing (except the victim).

Disperse the neighbors? No. In fact, keep them around (out of the way), and start getting names and contact info (after checking the victim and calling the ambulance. If the detectives want to disperse 'em, that's their call (if it even gets that far).

[jjc5891]

Well, there goes my 100% :rolleyes: ...well, thank you everyone for clearing it up for me. Maybe I will do better next time. Thanks.

[mobrien316]

Yeah, check the victim first. Preserving life is more important than preserving evidence.

I thought the situation wouldn't change based upon you knowing if she was or wasn't dead.

This would only be true if you routinely perform first aid on corpses.

If it is warm in the room and they are cold and dead, they are dead. If they are still around 98 degrees and they have no breathing and no pulse start working on them.

[resqr1]

"A" was going to be my second choice. The reason I ended up going against it was because I thought the situation wouldn't change based upon you knowing if she was or wasn't dead. I do agree that time is crucial if she wasn't dead, but there's not much you can do besides wait for the paramedics who should already be on the way.

You better start CPR or rendering some kind of aid if she's alive. That's a definite moral (and most likely a legal) obligation. If that isn't a motivator all the "witnesses" should be.

Standing back and yelling, "Squad's comin'" will get you plastered all over the news.

[Rabbit23]

Disperse the neighbors? No. In fact, keep them around (out of the way), and start getting names and contact info (after checking the victim and calling the ambulance. If the detectives want to disperse 'em, that's their call (if it even gets that far).

That's what I was always taught too.