Forensic Medicolegal Injury and Death Investigation

Introducing the basic concepts of clinical forensic medicine and death investigation, this book covers the main areas of forensic investigation . It providesan introduction to forensic science and coverage of injury patterns, natural disease, accidental trauma, child injury and fatalities, and domestic violence. Anyone who has direct contact with death, crime, and the medicolegal system, including nurses, physicians, attorneys, death investigators, forensic pathologists, and police detectives, will find this an invaluable reference.

Introduction to Forensic Investigation. Forensic Investigative System. Cause, Mechanism, and Manner of Death. Forensic Pathology: Scene Investigation and Autopsy. Postmortem Changes. Death Scene Investigation. Forensic Anthropology. Forensic Legal Issues and Expert Witness Testimony. Injury Recognition. Blunt, Sharp, and Patterned Injuries. Forensic Odontology. Craniocerebral Injury. Motor Vehicle Accidents. Firearms Identification. Gunshot Wounds. Sudden, Natural, and Accidental Deaths. Organ Donation. Asphyxial Deaths. Thermal Deaths. Electrical Deaths. Toxicology. Alcohol Deaths. Workplace Deaths. Child Fatalities and Domestic Homicides. Domestic Violence. Sexual Assault. Child Abuse and Infanticide. Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). Elder Abuse.

Mary H. Dudley, MD, is the chief medical examiner for Jackson County in Kansas City, MO. She is board certified in Anatomic and Forensic Pathology by the American Board of Pathology. She completed a two-year fellowship in Forensic Pathology at the University of New Mexico following a four-year Anatomic and Clinical Pathology residency at Penrose Hospital in Colorado Springs. She has a diploma, BS, and MS in nursing and also founded the first forensic nursing certificate program in the United States in 1994. Dr. Dudley originated the first Forensic Medical Investigation course in the United States in 1996.Dr. Dudley is a Board Member of the National Association of Medical Examiners, Fellow of the American Academy of Forensic Science, co-chair of the Medical Examiner Advisory Board of Musculotissue Foundation, member of the Missouri Child Fatality Review Board, and member of the National Disaster Medical Systems (Disaster Mortuary Operations Response Team). She is also an Associate Professor of Clinical Pathology – University of Missouri-Kansas City and on the teaching faculty at the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs and Metropolitan Community College-Penn Valley Campus in Kansas City, Missouri, USA.