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Death Investigator
Education:
Police
officer certification or criminal justice degree.
Primary Duties: Gather information
regarding the circumstances surrounding the death
by telephone discussions with medical, law
enforcement and other personnel and family
members; attend complex death scenes, document and
gather evidence related to the decedent and
coordinate efforts with law enforcement agents at
the scene; process body for collection of evidence
prior to and during autopsy; report initial
information to forensic pathologist prior to
autopsy examination; prepare report of
investigation. |
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Forensic Pathologist
Education:
4 year
undergraduate degree; 4 year medical degree; 3-5
years pathology residency; 1-2 years forensic
medicine fellowship.
Primary Duties: Perform autopsies to
determine the cause and manner of death;
coordinate investigation to determine the
circumstances surrounding the death, order
appropriate laboratory tests; communicate findings
to families, law enforcement and medical personnel
as needed; testify in court; review and interpret
microscopic tissue slides and other laboratory
studies related to cases; generate autopsy
reports. |
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Toxicologist
Education:
4 year
undergraduate degree in chemistry and may have MS
or PhD.
Primary Duties: Prepare body fluids and
tissues for chemical analysis, perform complex
analyses of fluids and tissues to determine the
presence of a variety of drugs and medications and
to quantitate these substances using analytic
machines and methods. |
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Histotechnologist
Education:
2 year
degree in medical technologies.
Primary Duties: Prepare microscopic tissue
slides by fixing, embedding, cutting and staining
tissues; provide tissue slides to pathologist for
review. |
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Morgue Attendant
Education:
On the
job training, must have good physical and
emotional strength and be at ease around dead
bodies.
Primary Duties: Weigh and measure bodies,
move bodies from gurney to examination table and
back, undress bodies, eviscerate, prepare
instruments and supplies prior to autopsy; clean
morgue. |
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Support Personnel
Additional staff includes a transcriptionist who
transcribes the pathologist's dictations,
secretaries who handle the incoming telephone
inquiries and coordinates the completion of death
certificates and autopsy reports and greet the
public. An office administrator handles the
business dealings for the office. |
