MLuq protocol: a proposal for the immobilization of the white weapon, preservation of DNA traces, and its chain of custody

Abstract

Unprecedentedly, this article presents a useful management protocol for the workers in emergency situations assisting victims of white weapon aggressions with a dual innovation. It could presage a possible advance in the healthcare management of these patients and support important repercussions in the legal field when this type of wound is inflicted due to an aggression. The MLuq protocol has been agreed by consensus in a multidisciplinary manner including experts belonging to the state security forces (judicial and scientific Police), to the healthcare area (surgical nursing, emergency medicine, general cardiothoracic and digestive surgery, and the legal and forensic medicine area), to the legal system (a jurist specialized in the area), and to the academic sphere. It is the first paper to propose purse string sutures as a weapon immobilization technique, as well as a set of actions designed to obtain biological traces of legal interest and to preserve the chain of custody. Therefore, it is a useful tool for the health and legal personnel, and especially for the victims.