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The Importance of Report Writing

Your investigation is only as good as the report that supports it. The coroner’s report focuses on a medical examination or autopsy of the body at a morgue and on the scene, to determine the cause of death. But investigators with the coroner’s office also frequently gather other information, such as interviewing family members, acquaintances of the…

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Antemortem – Perimortem – Postmortem

Antemortem injuries are those injuries a body has received before death. They may be a contributing factor in the death or even its cause. On the other hand, they may have occurred many years ago. During an autopsy , the pathologist assesses the age of antemortem injuries, as well as distinguishing them from postmortem injuries—that…

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Death Defied, Life Defined

Nationally, there are more than 122,000 people waiting for much-needed organs. As these patients and their families hold out hope for their second chance at life, organ donation organizations  manages the list of those individuals across the country, ensuring that the available gifts go to those who are best matched. In the transplant centers, patients are…

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Crime Scene Investigation – Best Practices

Crime scene investigation is an indispensable part of our work, which will have a direct impact on the success of the criminal investigation.  With Technological progress and changes in Social situations, scene investigation work is facing unprecedented challenges. The standardization of the crime scene investigation should be the goal of  all police agencies. Therefore, promoting the…

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SUDI Standards in Child Death

All infant and child deaths need to be investigated  in a systematic and standardized method.  The SUDI forms provide by the CDC is the national standard approach to investigating these deaths. Frequently, a cause of death is determined after a thorough investigation and autopsy by a medical examiner and coroner. The deaths that remain unexplained…

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Excited Delirium – Death in Police Custody

Excited delirium is a controversial proposed condition that manifests as a combination of delirium, psychomotor agitation, anxiety, hallucinations, speech disturbances, disorientation, violent and bizarre behavior, insensitivity to pain, elevated body temperature, and superhuman strength. Excited delirium is sometimes called excited delirium syndrome if it results in sudden death (usually via cardiac or respiratory arrest), an outcome that…

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Organ Procurement – What’s your responsibility?

Medical examiners and coroners (MEs/Cs) play an integral role in organ and tissue donation. Because the majority of donation cases fall under their jurisdiction, MEs/Cs are responsible for investigating unexpected and violent deaths; for providing accurate, defensible determinations of the cause and manner of death for each case; and for releasing the organs and tissues for donation as requested….

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Conversation with Joe Giacalone

In this episode Joe and I discuss the Coroner system v.  Medical Examiners system as well as what basic training should be in place for Coroners. We also talk about the recent upswing in drug overdose cases. Find Joe at http://joegiacalone.net/  

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Why a Chaplain

Does coroner and medical examiner office’s  need a chaplain program? What benefit could it have for your staff, your community, and the families you serve? Traditionally, a chaplain is a minister, such as a priest, pastor, rabbi, imam or lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secular institution such as a hospital, prison,…

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Update on Torso I-70 roadside park

Torso found in 2004 along I-70 is identified as Southwestern Illinois prostitute A decapitated torso found in 2004 has been identified as a metro-east prostitute who was only recently declared missing by her family. The headless, handless and legless female torso found June 28, 2004, by a maintenance worker trimming brush at an interstate rest…

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