lacounty.gov

Operations

On a Los Angeles Freeway in the pouring rain,

Inside a burned out structure,

On the side of a mountain in the Angeles National Forest,

In a pack-rat cluttered house.

These are just of few of the places where you will find personnel from the operations bureau of the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner. The operations bureau is the largest segment of the Department, consisting of the Investigations and Decedent Services sections. It is responsible for the 24 hours a day, 7 days a week operation of the Department. The operations bureau is also responsible for the disaster and community services, fleet management and other ancillary programs within the Department. The Medical Examiner's Special Operations Response Team (SORT) is also under control of the operations bureau.

Deaths that fall under the jurisdiction of the Medical Examiner are investigated by the investigations division. These deaths may require dispatching a medical examiner investigator to the scene of the death, regardless of the time or location. Investigators will interview witnesses and emergency responders, photograph the scene, follow up on leads, collect evidence, make identifications, notify next of kin, secure valuables and interface with law enforcement agencies. Investigators prepare reports that are forwarded to the medical division for use in the determination of the cause and mode of death. Investigators are frequently called in to court to provide testimony on Medical Examiner Cases. Under the California state Penal Code, all investigators are sworn peace officers. The Department of Medical Examiner is a certified agency with Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST).

The Investigation Division maintains regional offices in the South Bay, Antelope Valley, and San Fernando Valley. These regional offices provide a more rapid response to the location of death in these areas due to the close proximity of the regional facility.

The Investigations Division operates the Field Response Vehicle Program. This program improves the Department's deployment ability by assigning vehicles to a designated number of investigators to provide around the clock coverage in addition to the on-duty personnel. During times of increased call volume, investigators on the Field Response Vehicle Program can respond to the location of deaths, directly from home in their assigned vehicle without having to go to the office to pick up a vehicle.

Decedent Services Section

The Decedent Services section is responsible to the transportation, processing, storage and release of decedents' bodies recovered from any death scene including in public view, homes and hospitals. Decedent processing includes the weighing and measuring of bodies, the collection of personal effects, physical and medical evidence, and fingerprinting and tagging of the decedent. Bodies are maintained in refrigerated crypts to await autopsies and claiming by mortuaries or released for county disposition.

Decedent services are responsible for the day-to-day handling of decedents from pickup to release, along with their preparation for county disposition, and their preparation and transportation to the Riverside National Cemetery for unclaimed Veteran burials.

Disaster and Community Services

The Department’s Disaster and Community Services ensures a coordinated departmental response as one of the nine lead Los Angeles County agencies to major and minor emergencies involving fatalities that require operation of an Emergency Operation Center. Disaster services staffs field command posts, interacts with major airports, law enforcement, the State Office of Emergency Services, mutual aid from medical examiners throughout California and cities within Los Angeles County.

The Disaster and Community Services program provides planning support through participation in cities' emergency exercises and through maintaining up-to-date manuals. A plan has been developed to form a public/private emergency response partnership with local funeral and cemetery directors of a mass fatality management response system.

Special Operations Response Team

The Medical Examiner Special Operations Response Team (SORT) provides response in the event of any Mass Fatality Incident (MFI) or a Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, or High Explosive (CBRNE) incident. SORT also responds to death investigations that require specialized search or recovery such as a clandestine grave or scattered skeletonized remains. SORT provides a prompt and sustained response which means staff have to be trained, equipped and ready "24/7." The SORT team is comprised of Medical Examiner staff members that work throughout the Department on a daily basis. The team is made up of Investigators, Forensic Attendants, Forensic Technicians, Criminalists, Deputy Medical Examiners and a Forensic Anthropologist along with support/clerical staff. The SORT team is trained up to the highest level of Hazardous Materials response, level-A. We are one of only two coroner teams in the United States with this ability; the other being in New York City. SORT’s overall mission is to provide assistance for families who have lost their loved ones.

During a disaster, families can obtain information, emotional, social support and other services through the Family Assistance Center. A Family Assistance Center will be set up at a designated location within two hours of the occurrence of a mass fatality within the County. SORT Investigators will be present at the Family Assistance Center in order to make the notification of death, and to provide the families support and needed information.

Glossary of Terms

Autopsy

also known as a post-mortem examination, necropsy (particularly as to non-human bodies), autopsia cadaverum, or obduction — is a highly specialized surgical procedure that consists of a thorough examination of a corpse to determine the cause and manner of death and to evaluate any disease or injury that may be present. It is usually performed by a specialized medical doctor called a pathologist.

Biological specimens

blood, sections of organs, vitreous, bile, and urine.

Cause of death

an injury or disease that ultimately leads to death of the individual, generally determined by medical examiners or coroners.

Certificate of Religious Belief

in California, in order to execute a certificate of religious belief, a person must be 18 years of age or older and must state in clear and unambiguous language that any postmortem anatomical dissection or that specified procedures would violate the religious convictions of the person. The certificate must be signed and dated by the person in the presence of at least two witnesses. Each witness must also sign the certificate and must print on the certificate his or her name and residence address. California law allows the state to override religious objection if the coroner "has a reasonable suspicion that the death was caused by the criminal act of another or by a contagious disease constituting a public health hazard."

Chain of custody

a method of keeping track of who has handled a piece of evidence and when.

County Disposition

The County of Los Angeles will cremate the remains of a decedent and hold the cremains (ashes) for a period of time (about 3 years) before the ashes are interred in a common gravesite at the LA County Cemetery.

Decomposition

the disintegration of body tissues after death.

DME

Department of Medical Examiner

Evidence

any physical items such as bullets, hairs, fibers, biological fluids, etc., documents and statements that are included in a legal investigation for the jury’s or judge’s consideration in the determination of an individual’s guilt or innocence.

Forensic pathologist

A medical doctor who specializes in the sub-specialty of pathology that focuses on determining the cause of death by examining a corpse. The autopsy is performed by the pathologist usually during the investigation of criminal law cases and civil law cases in some jurisdictions.

Forensic Science

Forensic Science is the application of all forms of science to aid legal investigations.

Indigency

The lack of ability to pay as a legal reason for having certain required fees waived; being declared eligible for free services.

Manner of death

is how the death came about. Natural - due entirely (or nearly so) to natural disease processes. Homicide - due to a volitional act of another person. Suicide - due to injury that occurred with the intent to induce self-harm or cause one’s own death. Accident - due to injury when there is no evidence of intent to harm. Undetermined - inadequate information regarding the circumstances of death to determine manner; example: individual found unconscious with massive subdural hemorrhage; in the absence of information on the events leading up to death, it is impossible to determine if the hemorrhage is due to accidental fall, homicidal violence, etc.

Medical examiner

is a medically qualified forensic pathologist and government official whose duty is to investigate deaths and injuries that occur under unusual or suspicious circumstances, to perform post-mortem examinations, and in some jurisdictions to initiate inquests.

Medicolegal Autopsy

a medicolegal autopsy is done with the possibility of litigation in mind. The autopsy is designed to determine the cause of death, properly document findings, and collect evidence. A primary objective is to try to reconstruct the circumstances and events that led to the death so that a mode (natural, accident, suicide, homicide, or undetermined) can be established. A medicolegal autopsy differs from a hospital autopsy. A hospital autopsy is designed to confirm a known or suspected disease and gain further knowledge of the disease. The emphasis is placed on the gross and microscopic examination of internal organs. In a medicolegal autopsy the emphasis is shifted to the external examination and the description of external and associated internal injuries. Microscopic examination is done only when indicated. Information about identification of the remains, time of death, evidence of drug use, age of injuries, etc., becomes important and must be recorded carefully. It is imperative that findings be recorded clearly and objectively. Any forensic pathologist should be able to interpret the findings years later without difficulty. The forensic autopsy protocol must be standardized and reproducible.

Next of Kin

aNearest relative: if married, the spouse, if no spouse then adult children, or surviving parents, or blood relative, according to California State Law, unless otherwise specified in a legal document.

Toxicology

or postmortem (after death) toxicology analyzes biological specimens collected at autopsy for the presence of drugs, toxins, and poisons to help determine cause and manner of death.