The dead, and the space around a dead body, create a presumed crime scene with three exceptions: Death in care facilities, death in hospitals, and death when in hospice. For professionals such as medical personnel and law enforcement officers, we follow routines / protocols. We carefully, respectfully, step through processes. As EMS chief in a tiny town in Vermont with no police department, I expect to remain with the crime scene for at least 4 hours. Maybe I’ll be released when the detectives arrive at hour two. Maybe I’ll leave after the medical examiner calls me to evaluate if he makes the lengthy drive.