Please keep in mind that everything collected should be bagged and marked for evidence. Rape patients are victims of trauma and may need to be mildly sedated.

Step 1: Collecting Clothing || Collect clothing worn during the assault: underwear and outer clothing. If the victim has changed, the original set of clothing should be put in a paper bag. If the victim has not changed, an extra set of clothing should be brought to the hospital.

Step 2: Collecting Debris || Collect debris found on the victim, such as dirt, hair and other foreign objects.

Step 3: Fingernails || Collect fingernail samples from the left and right hands. A wooden scraper is used to extract any residue under the nail. Clippings of the nails are also taken.

Step 4: Hair Samples || Collect hair samples from the victim’s head. Four hairs each are taken from the front, back, center, right side and left side of the head. While pulled hair is preferred for evidence collection, cut hair is also acceptable if the cut is done close to the scalp.

Step 5: Oral Swab || Swab the victim’s gum line and the inside of the cheek with two swabs; the swabs should not be moistened before use. These two swabs are smeared onto glass slides. The process is repeated with two more swabs, except the last two samples are not transferred to slides.

Step 6: Saliva Sample || Collect a saliva sample from the victim. A filter paper disk is folded, then placed in the victim’s mouth. The victim saturates the inner circle of the paper with saliva.

Step 7: Dried Secretion Specimen || Collect dried secretions found on the victim’s body, using two swabs at the same time. Dried secretions include blood or semen; the location of the dried secretion is noted on a diagram in the rape kit.

Step 8: Pubic Hair Combings (If applicable) || Comb through the victim’s pubic hair, where loose hairs are collected.

Step 9: Pubic Samplings || Collect ten pubic hairs from different areas of the victim’s pubic region. As with the head hair samples, pulled hairs are preferred, but hairs cut close to the skin are also acceptable.

Step 10: Genital Swab || Swab the genital regions (the vulva on a female victim, or the penis and testicles on a male victim) with a swab moistened with distilled water or saline solution.

Step 11: Vaginal Swab || Swab the vagina. This process is done twice, using two swabs simultaneously. The first two swabs are smeared onto slides, while the latter two swabs are not. If there was no vaginal penetration, the victim can request that this step be skipped.

Step 12: Anal Swab || Swab the anus. As with the oral and vaginal swabs, two swabs are done simultaneously for a glass slide smear, and followed by another two swabs. If there was no anal penetration, the victim can request that this step be skipped.

Step 13: Collect other physical evidence || Collect other physical evidence, such as a condom, embedded glass, or a bite mark impression. Photos may be taken as additional evidence.

Step 14: Blood Samples || collect two tubes of the victim’s blood.

Step 15: Run STD Tests || Tests for sexually transmitted diseases can be done: gonorrhea, chlamydia, and syphilis are usually tested for, but the victim can also request other STD tests.

Victims should be released with a prescription of antibiotics.