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Investigation

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• Investigation

• The concept of investigation


• The definition of the investigation:
Is the set of procedures used by the civil defense investigator to control and document incidents and limit the human and material losses caused, and to identify the harmed ones and determine the cause of the accident, asking the help of the professionals (agents investigator) to give back the rights to their owners and to punish violators of safety regulations, and to carry out the recommendations and lessons learned to prevent recurrence of Similar incidents.

 • Targets of the investigation:
The aims of the investigation is to reach the following results:
1) Proof that the incident happened through the procedures of documenting the incident (records, telegrams notice, statements ... etc.).
2) Take necessary actions to achieve the following: 
 -Identify the identities of the dead, injured and missing ones in the accident. 
 -Send the injured to the health section to be treated and obtain initial medical reports on their health and follow-up their treatment and improve the functioning of their health and access for the finalized medical reports. 
 -refer the bodies of the dead bodies to the health section to detect and prepare the necessary medical reports and hand over the bodies of the dead to their relatives for burial or deporting after completing the necessary procedures to hand over the body and obtain death certificates.
3) Restrict the Physical objects affected, how many, and identify the owners and assessing the value of the material loss.
4) Determine the cause of the incident and reveal the violations of regulations and identify preventive responsibility.
5) Hand over the scene incident.
6) Finish the procedures regarding the individual rights.
7) Finish the procedures regarding the public rights.
8) Provide the Recommendations and lessons learned and to prepare the final presentation to the Governor.

 Preliminary investigation procedures:
• The investigating officer must make some important actions in the first stages of the inquiry to help him to direct the course of the investigation in the right direction and to avoid the loss of some of the information and evidence which he can collect easily at this stage, and it may be difficult or impossible to collect after this stage, these procedures are as follows: 
- Rapid transition to the scene and record all the information and observations in the investigator’s dairy in time sequence and not to rely on memory. 
- Writing the report including all of its key elements. (Name and address of the informer, type and location of the accident, human casualties and initial material damage and the use of the site and its contents, and the date and time of the accident). 
- Writing the general information at the time of arrival; the time of arrival, weather conditions, the degree of lighting, described the situation. 
- Not to involve him in struggle work, with the exception of the relieving of the injured ambulance if there wasn’t any on present to do so. 
- Coordination with the control officer to emphasize the preservation of the relics at the scene according to the instructions. 
- Identification of the witnesses and taking their initial statements, their names, and addresses. 
- To identify those involved in the struggle of the incident and, the role of each one and the work done, in addition to the conduct of operations.
-Identify the number and identities of the victims, and who relieved them and who transferred them to the hospital. 
- Comprehensive external examination followed by
Comprehensive internal examination (if possible) of the site and take note for things that draws attention, and call the agents whom their work requires speed. 
- Coordination with the control officer to answer queries and to explain the manner in which the struggle and all the work done. 
- Site photography and special operations incidents especially the important facilities and the when there is a possibility that the damage would go to the parts that are still fine.
- Take the necessary action to stop the entry of any one to the scene except those who are involved in the work of control at this stage.
- Take the necessary action to lift the custody over things that are feared to be lost or damaged. 
- During the preliminary investigation procedures, the investigating officer must take into account the safety and the safety of his staff of the potential risks at the site of the accident. 
- Providing the reference with information on an ongoing basis. 
- Must not carry out this work in accordance with this sequence, but the investigator take in the principle of the things that are most important, taking into account not to allow the loss of any source of information that help him in reaching the right conclusions.
• Orders to Help preserve the integrity of the site and physical evidence. 
- Chief Control is responsible for maintaining the safety and protection of the stuff found in the accident, as long the struggling work is still taking place, and in order to achieve he must follow this:
-Take the necessary action to isolate the incident area and prevent the entry of non-concerned with the work of control until the end of the struggle. 
- Follow the appropriate method of struggle and taking into account the contents of the site must be kept in its original place as much as possible. 
- Delay of the final extinguishing (cleaning) in fire incidents until the arrival of the investigator (if known that he was near the site), especially in the incidents that are suspected in its causes, as well as in the beginning of all incidents. And if it cannot await for the arrival of the investigator, such act must be under the supervision of the Chief of control taking into consideration what has been stated in the above paragraph.
- Without being contradicting with the control of fire during cleaning the scene, avoid during using the water hoses of high pressure from moving the things from their place except as required and in a necessary and sufficient way to achieve the objective. 
- After the end of the struggle against the inquisitors are responsible for the maintenance of the monuments and has to apply the following to achieve this:
- Portray the site before the inspection and prior to the lifting of the effects. 
- Immediate call for the agents to the importance of their presence.
- Immediate lifting, taking into custody, and preservation of monuments that can damage or lost in the scene. 
- Continue to isolate the incident area, and not allowing the access of anyone only those required by the investigation 0 
- Put guards for the site until it is not needed to reserve it anymore

• Procedures for collecting information:
 -Sources of information: 
- Informant. 
- Chief control or members of the struggling team. 
- Security men who started the incident. 
- Paramedics, who started the incident, doctors and nurses in hospitals. 
- The civil parties that participated in the struggle. 
- Witnesses. 
- Injured. 
- The relevant official bodies. (Police and detectives).
- People that are found nearby the incident. 
- Residing or working in the crash site. 
- Mayor of the neighborhood. 
- Official files of the site or victims.
 -the collection of information: 
- The investigator and his aides collect the preliminary information at the scene and take the names and addresses of the people whom they believe that they have an important advantage. 
- Identify as much as possible of those who witnessed the incident at the beginning and write their names and addresses even though if their need is not clear at this stage, but it may be helpful in the advanced stages of the investigation, and taking into account that witnesses may make at the beginning of the incident some statements which they don’t do later. 
- Interview employees in all the teams that have participated in the fight against the incident and identify what information they have. 
- Interview the injured, relief men, and the clinicians to take what information they have (taking into account that the injured talk about matters of interest to the investigation while being transported in ambulances and during treatment, and they may enter a coma or die later). 
- Messaging the security services in other major incidents requesting for information in the following incidents: In major incidents and in the absence of any sources of information and, if they did not know the identities of the dead or injured who cannot be questioned to know what they have of information. 
- Interview residents living or working at the scene and access to their information. 
- If there was a shortage or lack of information, you could use the help of the Mayor of the neighborhood and pass by the neighbors and ask them. 
- When needed, you should write to those who have the files on persons or sites to obtain information.

 • Examination and inspection instructions 
1- The external examination of the building or site where the followings are applied: 
- Assessment of the damage caused in the building from outside.
- Check all doors, windows, and vents. 
- Specify the exterior area that is the most damaged. 
- Identify the least low point of combustion outside. 
- Examine any vessel or object on the ground or around the building. 

2- The internal examination of the building or site where the following steps are applied: 
- Wearing full protective clothing before the examination process. 
- To assess the damage of the building before entering such as the floors, walls, stairs, roofs, and similar construction may be on the verge of collapse in which it may be needed to set a temporary support column or bring heavy equipment to lift and explore the ruins of a collapsed building. 
- Try to imagine what happened during the fire noting the following: 
- Does the spread of fire seem normal, horizontal, or vertical? 
- Intensity of the fire. 
- Furniture, clothes, and devices are they adequate to the type of the housing? 
- Is there any personal equipment that has been transferred before the fire or have being converted by another cheap type? 
- Is the site where the fire began unusual, under the drawers, the wall closet, and upstairs room, inside the drawers of the office, or the closet or the files?
- Does the size of the fire and transfer heat consistent with the type of construction and its contents?
- Is your evaluation for the period of ignition consistent with the phenomena of burning object? 
- Are there holes on the walls or roofs, and in case there are will they be due to fire, or by firefighters, or intentionally? 
- Are there holes on the walls and floors, if any, did it occurred by the fire or did it indicate the use of speeding substance? 
- Is the burning in the shape of a pool (area) or irregular patterns of fire that indicate the use of fire accelerator?

• The area where the fire began:
The place where the fire began is labeled by tracking the spread of fire in the area least affected to the most devastating region, where the most destructive place is the beginning of the fire, and the place that caught fire longer than the other (except for the presence of flammable materials or the fire in sites is more than other sites during the abatement, or providing more ventilation in more sites from other locations) due to the presence of a sufficient quantity of oxygen in the early stages of the fire. For the room or region that is most affected in the building most likely be the beginning, and to identify the beginning area the investigator examines and tracks the following:
- The effects of the heat on the existing materials, such as wood minerals, glass, and others. 
- The depth of smut. 
- Carbon deposits. 
- Intensity of the fire. 
- Manifestation in the upper portions of combustion. 
- Stop the effects of the fire. 
- Falling of the consisting layer of the concrete, the paint of the walls, and the concrete fragmentation. 
- Identify and examine the fire patterns whether upwards or downloads.

1- Starting point:
After identifying the point where the fire began and which contain the point or points of the beginning investigating officer does the following:
- Examine the area where the fire began a full and accurate examining and study the effect of fire on it.
- Lift the debris one by one in search of the under monuments, and write in sequence what is found and locate its place by measuring its vertical dimension from the wall near it, and to examine everything found an accurate examination and write notes then put it under custody, until all the monuments are removed to pave the way for the examination of the floor with writing notes.
- Study the patterns of the spread of fire through the sediment of the carbon material on the substances that that did not ignite, or some flammable material that didn’t totally as in the form of (7) when they are rising, and in the form of (8) when they are coming down, and work to identify the point or points of the beginning of ignition According to these patterns.
- Examination of the lower surface of the devices and domestic stuff found in the area of the beginning of the fire, such as television, a refrigerator, furniture and shelves and make sure that the effects of the fire was above the starting point which indicates the health of the starting point. And in the case of the presence of the fire points lower than the starting point, examine the region once again to find the right starting point. 
- In the case of several starting points examine each one accurately through the photography, drawings and clear in the report that the presence of the multiple points is not the result of ordinary proliferation of fire or sparks or by moving burning materials or during the fire or inspection or salvage the materials from the fire, noting that the material falling burning and explosions give the appearance of Multiple starting points. 

2- Determine the time of the beginning of fire:
The beginning of time has been apparently set by counting on several things including: 
- Study the nature of the fire as flammable in a fast or slow degree. 
- A study of electric wires and the status of doors and windows, and the gaps within the fire zone and which affects on the speed of the fire. 
- The nature and characteristics of the material in the fire. 
- The effects of fire on objects in the degree of fire and charred, metal melting, glass melting, cracks in the walls and ceilings and others. 
- Proof of the informer, witnesses, and firefighters who were in the area of the incident. 
- Note the impact of fire on the electrical and mechanical devices found at the scene such as the bells and electric lamps and other.
- Identify the requirements for documenting the scene

a) Photography
General rules of photography in accidents:  
use of a photography mean that is good and appropriate with a lens of 35 mm, in addition to a lens from 50 mm to 55 mm wide angle (wide angle) with a flash high sensitivity and photography colored films.
Set a Careful plan to film the scene before the inspection operation and the lifting in order not to neglect any effect of the incident, and it is done according to this:
External filming of the site from its four Directions in which at least one clear title. 
- Imaging patterns of the spread of fire in fire accidents.
- Imaging effects determined by the investigator and its location compared with the around. 
- To be familiar with the sequence of images taken from outside to the inside of the building and then to reach the starting point of the fire. 
- A sequence of images must be representing the steps taken by the investigator during the inspection until the determination of the starting point for the fire. 
- A photographer must be used immediately when the report is delivered, in addition to the photography of the struggle against the spread of flames, especially if there was the possibility of increasing the vulnerability of the site either by the fire or during the fight. 
- Choose the right place, which must pick up the picture in accordance with the goal intended and take into account that the cameras must be set in the level of the normal person’s vision in order to make the picture when looking at it as if it is the scene itself. 
- Pick up several other pictures from different angles and dimensions and at various altitudes, and if necessary it can be taken from another standing level of a normal person. 
- Fix Serial numbers of the pictures taken in a special agenda where the data will be found next to each number to clarify it written in it the type of the camera and serial number and type of film, speed and lens used, the photographer's name and number in addition to the case number, address and number in order, in addition to the description of the effect imaged. 
- Put serial numbers on the premises, furniture and objects to be photographed for it will be easy to identify them. 
- To ensure that the images captured are valid and if it is suspected that some scenes might not be clear they must be re-filmed before leaving the scene, and it would be better if photography took place during the day and if that was not possible you can use electric searchlights, and in the absence of electricity or adequate lighting focus the image on a specific evidence In a certain area and draw flash by another person to image the scene.
- A metric measurement that shows the size of the monument that needs to be photographed. 
- Use appropriate films and papers in terms of type, speed and sensitivity and the degree of lighting.
- Prepare a photographical report of the incident.

b) The record of the inspection: 
- Start writing notes of the inspection at the scene as follows:
- Identification of the time of Arrival and the time of transition and the general conditions upon arrival, weather and weather conditions and visibility. 
- The title of fire in a clear and detailed, and the type of activity used in the site, the owner or the lessee and the number of living or working in the site. 
- Describing the area of the incident and the access roads and terrain and the nature of the site and the main features and exits and entrances and condition of the building, doors, windows and all openings from the outside and described the damage caused in the building from the outside. 
- Description of the building from the inside from the least harm to the location of the beginning of the fire by examining patterns of ignition and tracking successively and its impact on every part of the building and contents of that section. 
- Describing in details and accurately the location where the fire began concerning its contents such as the furniture and closets and holes, and describing each statement carefully. 
- Determine the place of the evidence, or the places that might have evidence by describing it an accurate description.
Direct Evaluation and clarifying the important things and the setting a conclusion on the causes of the accident. 
- In the event of a dead body or more at the crash site, they must be described in addition to the place it was found in, and describing carefully the cuts, clothing, and others. 
- Not to touch anything or move its location prior to the completion of inspection and testing procedures. 
- Always take the most important concerning the evidence and the description and the balance of the estimate in the building for a loss of opportunity or loss of evidence because of delays in demonstrable even for a moment. 
- Collect preliminary information on the human and material losses.
Preparation of inspection report takes into consideration the following: 
- The inspection record is prepared as soon as possible after the inspection procedures.
- The description of each large and small thing with precision and care in the accident place. 
- Identification of the casualties resulting from this incident and clarification and describing the condition of the deceased and injured and the site where inspection took place. 
- Not to rely on vague language in the description and avoid unclear abbreviations. 
- To be written in a clear and readable writing. 
- Make sure not to forget something we have not dealt with description. 
- To explain what actions have been done for the incident documenting concerning images and engineering design. 
- To point in his initial conclusions to the causes of the probable causes of the accidents if there was any, and the procedures taken for the reservation of the site and the agents who were attending who came to the scene or who have been asked to attend to inspect the accident site or a certain part of it. 
- The report ends with the statement that shows that everything that was seen is being written for the reservation of the reality.

c) Sketches of the scene:
The sketches designed are to achieve the following objectives: 
- Clarify the relationship of the existing things together. 
- To give a look of the accident scene that could not be clarified in pictures. 
- Exclude objects and topics that are of no importance for investigation. 
- To clarify the situation and to alert and remind the witness during questioning and taking statements and to avoid recourse to the scene.

d) The plan for the preparation of a diagram of the scene: 
- To prepare sketches of the scene accident the investigator follows these two main steps:
- Prepare a preliminary sketch for the incident at the scene, taking into account the following:

- The initial sketch must be symmetrical in sizes and it doesn’t require any engineering measurement. 
- Must measure and clarify the distances and sizes and dimensions and sizes which must be done by the investigator himself. 
- must explain the keys of the painting. 
- to clarify the relationship between the mobile objects or that can be transferred such as beds, where evidence shows the two-dimensional theme (o; r) in the rooms and indoor places and in the three-dimensional theme (o; r; d) in open spaces such as a farm, factories and others.
- The painting shows the photos that have been taken at the scene by identifying their number and location.
- An overview of the place before embarking on its drawing.
- To show the site location according to the four of original sides and using a compass or use the location of the sun. 
- To explain on the drawing board the location of the evidences lifted from the scene. 
- Many drawings of the accident site could be done in which each panel shows a particular topic.

 e) The preparation of the final sketch: 
- To prepare the final sketch immediately upon the completion of the inspection procedures as soon as possible.
- Determine the scale of a one engineering draw in each drawing plate considering that each mm on the paper corresponds to one meter on the ground for the exterior places such as the farms and streets, and to consider every cm on the paper corresponds to a meter on the ground to the interior places such as chambers and houses. 
- The drawing has a clean copy with the using of an ordinary ink or Chinese ink.
- The sketch must be on a paper separated from the inspection record.
- To clarify on the drawing boards the number of the incident, date and scale, panel symbols, history and the name officer and his signature. 
- To clarify on the drawing board the location of the evidences that is lifted from the scene.