Today the autopsies began at eight-o-clock sharp. The first autopsy was of and individual who had been in a motor vehicle accident. This individual had had a lot of trauma due to the accident, so it was interesting to see wounds on the outside instead of just on the inside. The trauma to the individual’s chest was very significant, consisting of many broken bones. The rest of the body consisted of multiple broken bones and dislocations. The second autopsy consisted of a drug overdose. This case was the first overdose I have seen since being here, so I was curious to see the effect that drugs have on the body. The rest of the day was pretty mellow so I had time to work on my LINK project as well as complete my daily log. I am excited to see what the next two weeks have to offer me at the East Baton Rouge Coroner's Office!
Today started off pretty slow, which gave me time to work on my project. Later on in the morning the autopsys began. The first one I got to be a part of was very interesting because this individual had situs inversus. This condition is where all of the organs in your body are switched. For example, this individuals heart was on the right side. This condition is extremely rare, occurring in only .01 percent of people. The second autopsy I got to see was pretty normal. After the autopsys, the office all sat down together to have lunch. Because of the extreme weather that Baton Rouge was witnessing, the office was able to go home around 2, due to the conditions of the road.
Today was a very eventful first day at the East Baton Rouge Coroner's Office. I started the day off by arriving at 8 A.M, and meeting with my mentor Shane Evans. He gave me a tour of the front office, and then I began working with the investigators. The investigators job is to investigate the death of an individual and decide whether or not they need to bring the person back to the office for an autopsy or examination. The first thing I did was head to the hospital to get blood tested from a burn victim. The carbon monoxide levels in the blood were very high, so the investigator was able to decide that the individual had died from smoke inhalation. Next I joined a second investigator to go get a body of an individual who had had a heart attack. After deciding the man had been driving in a company vehicle when he wrecked, we had to bring the body back to the office to be examined. The rest of the day I worked with multiple people observing their role in the coroner’s office. I was able to learn about death certificates and the process the office has to go through to give the death certificate to the family.
|