While it is standard practace to "trauma strip" a patient by cutting their clothing off, the simple fact is that if a patient is clearly DOA (say due to massive head trauma), the EMTs may not do anything other than check for a pulse. Particularly if the accident happened on a desolate stretch of highway that took the ambulance an hour to reach. If there is a chance the person is still alive, it is not uncommon to place EKG pads on their chest, but some EMTs just slip them on under the shirt, rather than expose the chest. This is especially common if the patient is a different gender than the first responder, or if the assessment is being done roadside, rather than in the ambulance. Part of this is that EMTs are trained to disturb crime scenes as little as possible, so as to not to disrupt police investigations.