A complete crime investigation depends on preserving as much evidence as possible. Placing the client’s hands in brown paper bags and securing with tape at the wrists, protects microscopic evidence, such as blood, fibers, or drugs. The nurse should never wash a client in a suspected crime; both patent and latent fingerprints may be present, as well as traces of gunpowder and blood spatter patterns. If clothing must be removed, each item should be cut away at the seams, as far as possible from any holes or blood marks, and placed in an individual brown paper bag. All IV lines and the endotracheal tube should remain in place so the medical examiner can account for sites used during the resuscitation process.