R+29-48+Notes+NT

-The death investigator (DI) is a medical examiner or coroner. -All DIs must be familiar with forensic pathology because they have to know the difference between a murder and death from a contagious disease, or between an accidental erotic fatality and a real suicide. They must also know the protocol of body removal and be able to decide which deaths actually need to be investigated. -Death investigation involves determining several things about a death, such as how it occurred, when it happened, and what caused it. -Pathologists are concerned with both proximate cause (chain of events leading up to the death) and the immediate cause (the injury or disease that killed the person). -The manner of death falls into one of five categories: 1. Natural (died in an environment not considered hostile) 2. Accidental (fell victim to a hostile environment) 3. Suicide (the person caused his own death) 4. Homicide (someone else caused the death) 5. Undetermined -No one should move the body until the DI arrives. -Any deaths not the result of natural causes should be investigated. -All childhood deaths and deaths of people in the public eye are investigated. -The laws of the jurisdiction in which the body was discovered govern the methods and means of investigation. -If a physician does not feel comfortable signing the death certificate without examination, then a death investigation ensues. -All aspects of a death investigation are confidential. -Body discovery scenes outside are categorized by how the body is found: buried, exposed, or submerged in water. -Corpses outside may have undergone changes unrelated to their demise. -DIs are responsible for the body. -At the scene, the DI briefly examines the body and makes some preliminary notes and diagrams. -Only the coroner authorizes body transport. -The DI also decides if there is to be an autopsy. -The body gets removed by lifting and wrapping it in a clean white sheet to preserve all evidence but taking care to avoid contact with body fluids, and then placed into a body bag for transport. -Some MEs feel that the body temperature should be taken at least twice at the scene before a body is removed.
 * Handling Bodies**