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Maintain the chain of
evidence. Many hospital personnel
deal with criminal evidence routinely; documenting rape or assault, for
example. It is important to remember
that a terrorist mass casualty event
will involve a major investigation by numerous agencies, led by the FBI.
While this may be difficult to keep in mind during the emergency medical
treatment phase of the response, the investigation can be aided immeasurably
by remembering that any items such as clothing, personal effects, and
even the patients brought from the scene are evidence of what occurred
there. Forensic investigation relying
on genetic and other evidence can glean significant information from
seemingly miniscule items. One other
point related to evidence and protection of hospital personnel is that a
patient brought from the incident scene may, in fact, be one of the
perpetrators of the attack, and may still be armed.
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