Questions
Explain the forensic importance of examining death, and the role of the coroner, medical examiner, and pathologist in death investigations.
The forensic importance of examining death lies in determining the cause, manner, and time of death, which is crucial for public health purposes. The coroner, medical examiner, and pathologist play vital roles in this examination.
A fatty or waxy substance produced during the decomposition of dead bodies exposed to moisture.
Adipocere
An elected official, either a layman or a physician, who certifies deaths and can order additional investigations of suspicious deaths.
Coroner
The specific physiological, physical, or chemical event that stops life.
Mechanism of Death
The destruction of soft tissue by bacteria that results in the release of waste gases and fluids.
Putrefaction
Describe how the examination of death in early history compares to our approach today.
Early methods of death examination were often based on observation and superstition, whereas modern approaches utilize advanced scientific techniques and forensic science to provide more accurate and detailed information.
The cooling of the body after death.
Algor Mortis
The breakdown of a once-living matter.
Decomposition
Medical professionals used to provide evidence on medical and legal issues.
Mediolegal Death Investigators
The stiffening of the skeletal muscles after death.
Rigor Mortis
Discuss manner, cause, and mechanism of death, and how "death" itself is defined by experts.
Manner of death refers to the circumstances (natural, accident, suicide, homicide, undetermined), cause of death isteh specific injury r disease, and mechanism of death is the physiological process. Death is defined by experts as the irreversible cessation of all biological functions.
The breakdown of cells as they self-digest.
Autolysis
A medical doctor specifically trained to perform autopsies to determine the presence of absence of disease, injury, or poisoning.
Forensic Pathologist
A physician who performs autopsies, determinesthe cause and manner of death, and oversees death investigations.
Medical Examiners
Explain the predictable sequence of change that occur during the process of death, including algor, rigor, and livor mortis.
The predictible sequence of changes include algor mortis (cooling), rigor mortis (stiffening), and livor mortis (blood pooling), which help in estimating the time of death.
A medical examination to determine the cause of death.
Autopsy
The pooling of the blood in tissues after death due to gravity that results in a red skin color.
Livor Mortis
Red spots in the white of the eyes that form due to capillary rupture in blood vessels of the eye.
Petechial Hemorrhages
Describe the chemical and physical changes that occur during the stages of decomposition, and how they provide evidence in the examination of death.
Chemical and physical changes during decomposition provide evidence about the environment, time since death, and potential causes of death.
The injury, condition, or disease responsible for a person's death.
Cause of Death
One of five ways in which a person's death is classified.
Manner of Death
The underlying cause of death that leads to the certification of the death.
Proximate Cause of Death