No abstract available.
Coroners and Medical Examiners* ; Humans

No abstract available.
Aircraft* ; Coroners and Medical Examiners* ; Guam* ; Humans

PURPOSE: This study was conducted to describe and compare how emergency room (ER) nurses and coroners perceive good death and their attitudes toward death. METHODS: A survey was performed with 51 ER nurses in P city and 44 coroners nationwide. Data were collected from October 1, 2010 through February 28, 2011. Data were analyzed with descriptive statistics, t-test, ANCOVA, Scheffe's test using the IBM SPSS statistics 21.0 program. RESULTS: For the perception of good death and attitudes toward death, coroners scored higher (3.01+/-0.43 and 2.87+/-0.35, respectively) than ER nurses group (2.95+/-0.40 and 2.61+/-0.33, respectively), but the differences were not significant. The results of perception of good death and attitudes toward death were not statistically significant between ER nurses and coroners. CONCLUSION: The study showed no difference between ER nurses' perception of good death and attitudes toward death and those held by coroners. The findings of the study show that it is necessary to offer steady education on death to nurses and coroners to help them build a proper understanding of good death and grow positive attitudes toward death.
Coroners and Medical Examiners* ; Education ; Emergency Service, Hospital ; Humans

The autopsy system in Korea is based on the Corpse Autopsy and Preservation Law which Articles 2 didn 't limit medical professors and medical examiners to perform autopsy. But according to the Medical practitioners Law Article 18, only a practicing physician can issue the certificate for postmortem inspec-tion. If an unnatural death is suspected, the postmortem investigation and autopsy should be performed according to the order of Criminal Procedure Code Article 222. The limited role of postmortem investi-gation in unnatural death and respective bodies of postmortem inspection and autopsy, which would cause the overflow of criminal autopsy. The detailed guide-line of unnatural death, should-be verified death cases, practical use of postmortem inspection including the blood and tissue sampling etc, unifica-tion of legislations regarding to autopsy system, the specific warrant of autopsy, which empowers the limited and full autopsy individually would be help to improve that distortion.
Autopsy* ; Cadaver ; Coroners and Medical Examiners ; Criminals ; Humans ; Jurisprudence ; Korea

Medicolegal death investigations in the U.S. have become a critical part of crime investigations over the past several decades. additionally, the roles of medical examiners (MEs) and coroners have expanded beyond the field of criminal justice in recent years. despite the fact that these roles are becoming increasingly more important a systematic and comprehensive study of this complicated system is yet to be conducted. Since there is no national standard or federal system, medicolegal death investigations vary across states, districts, and counties in the U.S. In this paper, we attempted to classify the systems into three categories. We also examined the roles and work procedures that MEs and coroners commonly share across the country as well as the problems and challenges that the medicolegal death investigation system is facing today. In addition, we have also provided a brief summary of the Korean system in order to add a comparative perspective, since the Korean legal system differs substantially that of the U.S.
Americas ; Coroners and Medical Examiners ; Crime ; Criminal Law ; Humans

The issues concerning the disability evaluating system in Korea are controversial to say the least. Evaluating systems are so complicated that they continually cause confusion to medical examiners even though they must evaluate patient's medical status accurately, objectively and reasonably to provide adequate compensation for patients. However, controlling associations or educating curricula for disability evaluation are not in place. This study investigates the impending problems of disability evaluation in Korea and discussed what should be done to improve the situations. Social environments, evaluating standards, examiners' capability and education are reviewed in an effort to present an adequate proposals to Korean medical examiners.
Compensation and Redress ; Coroners and Medical Examiners ; Curriculum ; Disability Evaluation ; Humans ; Hypogonadism ; Korea ; Mitochondrial Diseases ; Ophthalmoplegia ; Social Environment

While forensic pathology has become a vital tool in solving crime over recent years, it remains a vague term to many criminal justice practitioners. Chronicling the development of autopsy and forensic pathology in the United States will introduce this modern field. An examination of forensic pathology will also explain how its role has evolved to accommodate legal and civil issues. The utility of forensic pathology extends well beyond the medical realm by affecting the core of the medicolegal investigative system in the United States.
Autopsy ; Coroners and Medical Examiners ; Crime ; Criminal Law ; Forensic Pathology ; Humans ; United States

There has been an increase in the incidence of elevator-related accidents in the Republic of Korea. Every year, approximately 10~20 elevator-related fatalities are reported in the Republic of Korea. According to research from the United States, 'falls' were the most common cause of death, followed by 'caught in/between'. In such investigations, it is important to distinguish between the manners of death. Herein, we report an elevator-related fatality, which required careful forensic investigation to determine the cause of death. A thorough forensic autopsy and reinvestigation of the death scene by medical examiners were required to determine if the death was caused as a result of the deceased falling from from a height or being caught in between the elevator and the wall of building.
Autopsy ; Cause of Death ; Coroners and Medical Examiners ; Elevators and Escalators ; Humans ; Incidence ; Republic of Korea ; United States

Medicolegal autopsy is divided into judicial autopsy and administrative autopsy in Korea and Japan. Recently a new concept of "consented autopsy" has been developed in Japan. Consented autopsy is a kind of administrative autopsy which performed by informed consent of the bereaved of the dead. In Japan, all medicolegal autopsies are strictly divided into judicial autopsy and administrative autopsy. The latter is called to consented autopsy in the most prefectures of Japan except the five cities that have Japanese medical examiner system. Consented autopsy is a procedure that enhances people's recognition of legal medicine in the society and universities. Author introduce the peculiar procedures of consented autopsy in the Department of Legal Medicine, Kitasato University and Kyushu University in Japan. We can expect that the universities and other organs in Korea will establish our own methods of medicolegal activities in the future referring to the Japan's consented autopsy system.
Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Autopsy ; Coroners and Medical Examiners ; Forensic Medicine ; Humans ; Informed Consent ; Japan ; Korea

Shotguns were developed as an alternative to single-missile rifle or handgun in order to enable gunner to spray a wide area with shot and thus kill birds and small animals too difficult to hit with single-missile weapons. As the popularity of shotguns grew, ammunition was developed for large game. The use of shotguns on humans has been markedly increasing in various manner of death. In forensic aspect, the shotgun wounds have characteristic findings due to their own characteristics and medical examiners may determine the range, distance, direction and kinds of gun. When the muzzle of the shotgun is placed tightly against the surface of the abdomen or thorax, the consequent wound of entrance will be single in number and circular in shape, and will have a diameter approximately equal to that of the bore of the weapon. However, when the wound is made over a site with underlying bone, especially in the scalp, the wound may have a different appearance, showing star shaped entrance due to tears from the sides of the wound and accompanying soot and burn effect. When the muzzle is held short to mid-range, considerable variation occurs in the appearance of the wound. We report two cases of shotgun wounds which showed typical findings of contact shots and distant shots.
Abdomen ; Animals ; Birds ; Burns ; Coroners and Medical Examiners ; Firearms ; Humans ; Scalp ; Soot ; Thorax ; Weapons ; Wounds and Injuries*