Death Investigations Check-in

1

Describe the 5 stages of decomposition. Be sure to include details about what occurs at each stage (5-6 sentences).

2

Estimate the PMI of the following body and justify your estimate (1-2 sentences):

A very lean gymnast collapsed while exercising at home in their poorly ventilated, 35°C garage. Upon arrival, the medical examiner noticed rigor in the arms and small muscles of the face and hands.

Required

1

Select all of the following that are duties of a forensic pathologist:

Required

1

The following map shows which individual is responsible for medicolegal death investigations within the United States:
According to the figure, California's death investigations are primarily overseen by _________.

2

Internal temperature of the woman's liver: 22.2°C
Average body temperature = 37.0 °C.
Cooling rate for initial 12 hours after death = 0.78 °C/hour
Cooling rate after 12 hours = 0.39 °C/hour
PMI = _______ hours (round to nearest whole number)

The woman's boyfriend claims that he should be excluded from the list of suspects because he was seen at work at 8 am the previous day, and his work is a 1 hour commute from the location where the body was found. Is his claim reasonable? 
_______ (type "yes" or "no")

2

A body was fished out of a lake last night at approximately 1 am. The medical examiner recorded the internal temperature of the liver upon arrival as 28.42 °C. Estimate the PMI for the body found at the scene. 

Recall that a body loses 0.78 °C/hour for the first 12 hours, and 0.39 °C/hour afterwards. Average body temperature is 37.0 °C.

_______ hours (exact answer)

Given the circumstances, should the forensic pathologist increase or decrease the calculated PMI estimate? _______ (type "increase" or "decrease")

1

The __________ of death can be natural death, accidental death, suicidal death, homicidal death, or undetermined.

1

Match the terms to their corresponding descriptions.

Draggable item		Corresponding Item
livor mortis		pooling of blood in the lowermost parts of the body after circulation ceases postmortem
rigor mortis		stiffening of muscles beginning 2-5 hours after death
algor mortis		gradual cooling of the body after death

1

Red spots in the whites of the eyes are symptoms associated with __________ as a cause of death.

Required

1

Order the following situations from shortest PMI (top) to longest PMI (bottom).

rigor mortis noted in fingers and eyes only; internal temperature of liver 35.6°C
entire body is rigid
rigor is apparent in thighs, glutes, and abdominal muscles only

Required

3

Label the following areas on the skeleton. Not all terms will be used.

Describe the 5 stages of decomposition. Be sure to include details about what occurs at each stage (5-6 sentences).

Estimate the PMI of the following body and justify your estimate (1-2 sentences):A very lean gymnast collapsed while exercising at home in their poorly ventilated, 35°C garage. Upon arrival, the medical examiner noticed rigor in the arms and small muscles of the face and hands.

Select all of the following that are duties of a forensic pathologist:

The following map shows which individual is responsible for medicolegal death investigations within the United States:According to the figure, California's death investigations are primarily overseen by _________.

Match the terms to their corresponding descriptions.

Order the following situations from shortest PMI (top) to longest PMI (bottom).

Select 2 of the following statements that are true about autopsies:

Estimate the PMI of the following body and justify your estimate (1-2 sentences):

A very lean gymnast collapsed while exercising at home in their poorly ventilated, 35°C garage. Upon arrival, the medical examiner noticed rigor in the arms and small muscles of the face and hands.

The following map shows which individual is responsible for medicolegal death investigations within the United States:
According to the figure, California's death investigations are primarily overseen by _________.