# Human factors in scene safety, your "spider sense" says "hmmmmm":



## mycrofft (Aug 20, 2008)

Every get that feeling about someone or ones at a scene that makes you either want them cuffed and gone, or for you to be leaving _mas alles_? Let me toss out three true cases:
1. You roll up to a farm for a "difficulty breathing" call at night. Two big guys open the gate for you, there's a cyclone fence with razor wire around the farmyard and house, no livestock, and a lot of big rough looking guys wearing boots and long-sleeved and long tailed shirts standing and walking around. One admits to giving the pt crank to try to stimulate an abortion, and the pt has been in trouble long enough to be in endstage respiratory distress from diabetic ketoacidosis (insulin OD to try to promote abortion as well).
2.  You go to a small suburban church Sunday morning, parishioner has chestpain.You go into the small converted house and everyone is wearing BDU's. It is not Guard weekend.
3.   Stabbing murder victim and severely injured housemate in two-story old Victorian rented house, cops and FD are there too, but no one knows where the perp went because the victims can't say. Two AM and the neighborhood is overgrown by trees, hedges, and few back fences still up.
Had any like this? Thoughts?


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## mycrofft (Aug 20, 2008)

*No, not "Recluse Spider"-sense*

..............


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## NJN (Aug 21, 2008)

When you look into a very very dim room and all you can see is a lit cigarette and the Largest smile from the mental eval, you may want to PUHA in the direction of the rig.

As for number 2 i would say "attention on deck" or "attention" before entering the room, just to mess with them.


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## BossyCow (Aug 21, 2008)

My favorite is to be called to a scene to evaluate someone for law enforcement. You show up and every available cop in the area is there, but they're all back by their cars, together, grinning. You go stand by the one lonely cop who has the guy in custody and is not smiling.


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## Lisa (Aug 21, 2008)

*Creepy*

Had one just a few weeks ago.... 69yo f c/o shortness of breath and chest pain. The address is on the other side of the county so we have FR toned out. They arrive on scene give us a report... I'm running emergency traffic, and 2 blocks from the address I top the hill and see blue lights everywhere. The Dollar Store is completely surrounded and they are screaming something over the PA.. Finally get to where I'm going, PD pulls up and I kindly ask "What the hell is going on?" His response... "Dollar Store got broke into, have you seen anybody walking around?" I didn't even respond! Turns out Dispatch failed to let us know we had "fleeing suspects" in the area!!! Gotta love it!


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## mycrofft (Aug 22, 2008)

*Oh yeah!*

We were arrayed across the street from a "barricaded armed man" in base housing when from behind we hear a bellowed "You looking for me!?" and the guy walked up with a Security Police airman walking beside him. False alarm from a disgruntled dependent wife.


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## Jon (Aug 24, 2008)

I think Kip has talked about this in the past, and I know I've at least touched on it.

Read "The Gift of Fear" by Gavin de Becker - https://www.gavindebecker.com/books-gof.cfm

He talks a LOT about that 6th sense that just tells you something is "wrong". Oftentimes, our minds process things and make decisions on threats subconsciously... if we think about it, we try to discount those warnings, because we don't want to give into fear.

Fear is a good thing, in some cases. It can tell you that something is wrong, and you need to leave... NOW.


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