Hi Lovely Ladies-
Thank you so much for the warm welcomes!! I hope I am replying to your comments/questions in the right place. If not, let me know where to properly do so. Also, I know what "showing pink" means, but what does "making pink" mean, somebody gave me a congrats pertaining to that?
As far as some of the questions go:
Sometimes we know what an autopsy has determined as cause of death, sometimes we don't. If there is a pathogen warning, such as AIDS or Hepatitis, we are notified for safety's sake. However, at times it is clear what the cause of death was, whether an autopsy has been conducted or not. If we get a guy with half his head blown off it is pretty clear that a gun shot to the head killed him, especially if the gun shell is still in his head or hair (I could tell ya'll some stories about that subject). Sometimes, however, the ME (medical examiner) will just take toxicity samples, and do a visual examination of the body, which satisfies the death investigation specific to a case as pertaining to the concern of the medico-legal investigation of death. If just toxicity levels are taken we don't always know what killed the person, but sometimes we are told or it is in the paperwork. For example, we received two bodies a while back, both of which were young men in good health, who had overdosed on heroin. Funeral Service personal and ME's are the first to know when a bad batch of drugs hits the streets. All death investigations are case specific, as are embalmings. WITH THE DEAD COME VARIABLES (and toe tags).
The dixie cup in the viscera...I haven't a clue as to why there was a dixie cup and other junk mixed in with the visceral remains. Either the ME or Pathologist Assistant was being lazy and didn't want to dig around in there to find it, or they just didn't notice that it had some how mixed in with the soup. Either way, that was the first time I had seen a dixie cup mixed in with intestines and brains, and I have encountered a lot of oddities in the short time that I have been in the business. \m/
Thank you so much for the warm welcomes!! I hope I am replying to your comments/questions in the right place. If not, let me know where to properly do so. Also, I know what "showing pink" means, but what does "making pink" mean, somebody gave me a congrats pertaining to that?
As far as some of the questions go:
Sometimes we know what an autopsy has determined as cause of death, sometimes we don't. If there is a pathogen warning, such as AIDS or Hepatitis, we are notified for safety's sake. However, at times it is clear what the cause of death was, whether an autopsy has been conducted or not. If we get a guy with half his head blown off it is pretty clear that a gun shot to the head killed him, especially if the gun shell is still in his head or hair (I could tell ya'll some stories about that subject). Sometimes, however, the ME (medical examiner) will just take toxicity samples, and do a visual examination of the body, which satisfies the death investigation specific to a case as pertaining to the concern of the medico-legal investigation of death. If just toxicity levels are taken we don't always know what killed the person, but sometimes we are told or it is in the paperwork. For example, we received two bodies a while back, both of which were young men in good health, who had overdosed on heroin. Funeral Service personal and ME's are the first to know when a bad batch of drugs hits the streets. All death investigations are case specific, as are embalmings. WITH THE DEAD COME VARIABLES (and toe tags).
The dixie cup in the viscera...I haven't a clue as to why there was a dixie cup and other junk mixed in with the visceral remains. Either the ME or Pathologist Assistant was being lazy and didn't want to dig around in there to find it, or they just didn't notice that it had some how mixed in with the soup. Either way, that was the first time I had seen a dixie cup mixed in with intestines and brains, and I have encountered a lot of oddities in the short time that I have been in the business. \m/
VIEW 3 of 3 COMMENTS
jimmieknuckles:
gummo 
one of my top ten without a doubt, that candy bar in the bathtub scene was amazing 
one of my top ten without a doubt, that candy bar in the bathtub scene was amazing 
fatality:
Thanks for commenting on my surface piercing and, more importantly, the content of my profile. So, yeah, my undergrad concentration is going to be cognitive neuroscience. I'm actually not sure what I am going to do after that - but I am so intrigued by your job. I have always tried to keep the option of being a forensic pathologist open. That would be so exciting if you eventually get to be a medical examiner. Seriously, for both intellectual a d fascination elements.