Documenti di Didattica
Documenti di Professioni
Documenti di Cultura
June 21
Legal medicine (AKA forensic medicine) branch of medicine that deals with application of knowledge to legal problems and proceedings
Medical jurisprudence - branch of law that deals with application of law to medicine or conversely medical science to legal problems
Forensics application of scientific knowledge to legal problems and proceedings - Used in the pursuit of justice in court proceedings and in the protection of the public from environmental hazards
Pathology branch of medicine that deals with diagnosis of disease and causes of death by means of laboratory exams of body fluids, cell samples and tissues from the body. if alive = biopsy if dead = autopsy; systematic external and internal examination of the dead a subspecialty is forensic pathology: a forensic pathologist examines persons who died suddenly, unexpectedly, violently or a medically unattended death, an expert in determining the cause and manner of death, involved in crime investigation, case coordinator for the medical, forensic and scientific assessment of a given death (may be the lead investigator), expert in interpreting the scene of death, assessing the consistency of witnesses and interpretation of pattern injuries
Medico-Legal officer physician who is involved in medico-legal duties SEC. 95 Code of Sanitation: Any medical officer (MHO, RHO, District Health Officer), medical offices from law enforcement agencies, CHR and members of the medical staff of accredited hospitals. Medico-legal cases: deaths or injuries involving persons who have no means of being identified, those who are pronounced dead on arrival on ERs, deaths under the following circumstances [death occurred within 24 hours of admission, clinical cause of death is unknown, unexpected sudden death especially when the person was of apparent good health, d/t natural disease but associated with physical evidence of foul play, death as a result of violence, suicide or poisoning, death d/t negligence of a 3 rd person, including cases of child abuse, physical and sexual abuse, rape, drug addiction and iatrogenic causes of injury, disease or death (one caused by the medical professional such as the doctor/nurse), etc]
Child protection specialist - new kind of specialist in the field of pediatrics; deals with medico-legal cases of children who were allegedly abused
Child Protection has set qualifications of a doctor who can provide care for the sexually abused child and these are doctors who can also give expert testimony in court. 1. pediatrician, gynecologist, pediatric gynecologist, family (important that theres exposure to children) 2. formal training 3. updated with research studies 4. experience 5. regular conference, consult one another here and abroad etc medicine
Pre-trial preparation of the expert witness refreshes the level of expertise, enhances quality of opinion expressed and saves time. Lawyers must also be prepared in their questioning.
Know the value of the medical literature presented. When it comes to research the best level of evidence is a blind test that is random.
Protect your witness. Do not allow your witness to be harassed by the other side. If its a child witness know the rules in examination of a child witness.
What you should not do: 1. 2. 3. 4. ask a question you do not already know the answer do not quarrel with the witness ask clear questions Allow witness to explain his answer. An expert witness has a right to explain. 5. do not ask long and complex questions especially with children 6. do not ask absolute questions (always, never etc) nor use unnecessary adjectives June 28 Page 2 of 37
DEATH A person is alive because of the 3 main parts of the body: 1. The brain; 2. The respiratory center; and 3. The circulatory center You heart pumps blood throughout the body to circulate oxygenated blood. These are the two most important systems: your cardiac and circulatory system and respiratory system that will keep you alive, and the main center for control is the brain. Definition of death: The cessation of life in a previously living organism. It is a process, not a single event.
Medical and legal status of death: o Medical Doctor proclaims or pronounces a person dead. o Legal Extinction of the persons identity, etc. The ascertainment of death is a chemical problem. Its the doctor who will determine when a person has died. Stages of Death: 1. Clinical or somatic death 2. Brain death 3. Biological death 4. Cellular death Clinical or somatic death: The respiratory and circulatory functions have ceased. But because of an advancement in medicine, the circulatory and respiratory functions may be restored through resuscitating measures. You may end up as a person whos wide awake, continuously breathing, heart still beating. Or you may end up as a person whos awake, heart beating, but youre not breathing on your own. Or you may end up as a person whos just out. You are unconscious and cannot communicate with your environment. Youre breathing, either on your own with your heart beating on your own, or your respiration is being assisted, with your heart beating on its own. If theres irreversible unconsciousness, with spontaneous respiration and heart beat, it cannot be accepted as true death. The person is still breathing on his own. Hes unconscious but hes breathing on his own, his heart beating. Brain death: If the brain does not receive oxygenated blood within 3-7 minutes, your heart stops beating. Neurons die if theres no oxygen brought to the brain within 7 minutes. Brain death follows a stage: 1. The cerebral cortex or that part of the brain with higher functions die first. 2. The cerebellum (the part of the brain thats for keeping your balance and coordination) follows. 3. The last to go is the brain stem. It is in the brain stem where the cardiac and respiratory centers lie. Its the stem brain thats what will keep you alive. Page 3 of 37
So we have what we call a persistent vegetative state. Youre completely unconscious but youre breathing on your own, with your heart beating. Or you may have assisted ventilation. And it is assumed in such a state that the brain itself is functioning. Higher brain centers are dead except for the brain stem. Because the brain stem is not dead yet, the cardiac and respiratory centers are working. So even if youre totally unconscious, you may be breathing on your own and your heart is beating on its own. Or your heart is beating but your are breathing through a ventilator. And the only thing thats needed is to keep feeding the patient. So these are the people we call vegetables. Biological death: Here finally, even the brain stem dies. All components of the brain die, closely followed by cellular death. Cellular death: Think of cells as mini tiny factories. So in cellular death, these factories shut down one by one. And eventually, they would just break up and decay. Cellular death itself also does not happen all at once. Cells die slowly. Because evidence now is showing that, lets say, your skin and bones may remain what you call metabolically active (still alive for many hours). Thats why after death, if you need to transplant or use bones or skin, they may be harvested and cultured up to 12 hours after the heart has ceased beating. Neurons of course die after 3-7 minutes. The heart and kidney can still be used if theyre harvested within 8 hours of cessation, after the person is pronounced death. So its very important, especially when were talking about transplantation. The person must be pronounced dead by the attending physician. So death actually takes a long time. It doesnt mean that just because the person stops breathing and his heart is not beating, hes dead. Its a transfer from one state of viability to another and may be slow or rapid depending on certain factors, like your age. The very young and the very old, they die faster. Very young, because theyre very immature, the very old because of the wear and tear. They dont have defenses anymore so they can die really fast. If youre very thin, if youre malnourished, if you have all these diabetes and heart problems, your death will be faster. Or environmental factors (good thing it doesnt snow here). If youre sickly and its cold outside, youre not wearing anything, or youre malnourished, youre going to die fast. So its the physician who pronounces death when what you call the point of irreversibility has been breached. And when is that? When does a doctor say that the point of irreversibility has been breached? Traditionally, when the doctor doesnt feel a pulse or doesnt hear the heart beating and the person is no longer breathing, we say the person may have died. 1. Other ways of finding out whether that person is really dead is by putting a mirror on the face, at the mouth and nose, of the person. If theres no condensation on that mirror, it means the person is not breathing. 2. What we can do is also look into the eyes, through the pupils. We can see what we call the fundus where you can see the blood vessels. If the blood vessels are not pulsating, that means the heart is no longer beating. We can use EEG (electroencephalogram) test. But in the province, you dont have EEG. The doctor usually uses what you call the ophthalmoscope to look into the eye and check if theres still pulsation. Sometimes, they dont have a mirror, so doctors bring compacts, like the ladies. So its just a pulse or listening to the heartbeat. Page 4 of 37
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July 5 When everybody dies changes can happen. How do we estimate the time of death? EARLY CHANGES THAT HAPPEN AFTER DEATH: 1. Rigor Mortis 2. CadavericRigidity 3. Post Mortem Hypostasis 4. Cooling of the body after death or Algor Mortis When the heart stops and the breathing stops eventually theres a falling blood pressure, theres no more oxygen and the cell method will stop working and because of that your nerve cells will die and theres going to be no more neurological activity. When blood pressure falls down and theres no more circulation, you would become pale. There would be pallor personae, there will be eye changes, reflex is gone, the pupils will not dilate and will not constrict if its shown light, the blood vessels in the fundus that you see that are actually retina. You wont see any pulsation and if you touch the eye, its very soft. Muscles will become flaccid. As soon as there is a loss of the muscle tone it becomes flaccid and this is termed the primary flaccidity and this may retain any activity and may respond to other forms of stimuli thats why you might see some twitching of the toes or some muscle twitching thats reacting to the stimuli. Its not actually dictated by higher senses. There will also be loss of muscle tone so your anal sphincter will just come out. Your urinary sphincter, your urine will just come out. Or some semen might just be emitted but that doesnt mean that he had just had sex before he died. There will be revegitate of the gastric contents because there is a sphincter in the esophagus and in the stomach. That will also be relaxed so when the person falls on his back or even head down stomach opening relaxes, gastric sphincter will flow backwards this can be confused as if the person died because of asphyxiation (gastric contents going into the airway). The only way we can say that a person died because of asphyxiation from aspirating food is from eyewitnesses account. If food debris can be found down to the smallest part of the lung and then we can say he asphyrated and that is the cause of his death. Rigor mortis. The temperature dependent physico-chemical changes chemical reactions occur within motor cells as a result of lack of oxygen. or
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July 12 DEATH INVESTIGATION.. It involves police investigation and the application of forensic science. Kinds of death that require investigation in the Philippines, understand the principles of death investigation including the autopsy. Learn and understand the contents of a medico legal autopsy report and how the medico legal findings become useful to the legal system. The purpose of death investigation is to identify and develop an understanding of the death of that person. Two types of death investigation: 1. Clinical death investigation happens within the hospital. The doctor or the medical officer or the pathologist wants to know what that person died of, what was the illness, did he die of a certain disease or injuries, or of poisoning. Its just within the hospital setting. Page 11 of 37
2. Medico legal investigation - maybe theres some foul play in the cause of death. It may be that there is a police investigation going on regarding the death of that person. When that natural death occurs, the doctor will sign the death certificate, once the death certificate is signed then the body can be disposed of the, the death certificate will include the cause and manner of death. If the death is natural and no doctor can complete the certificate then that death must be investigated and the death be classified. Death that cannot be examined by the doctor is examined by a variety of legal officers-the medico legal officers or the medical examiners. Herein the country based on the Code of Sanitation, cases where autopsies were performed are those that are required by special laws upon the orders of a competent court, a mayor or provincial or city fiscal upon the written request of police authorities whether the solicitor general or the city or provincial fiscals are authorized by existing laws shall be when necessary to dis>>> and to take possession of the remains for examination to determine the cause of death, whenever the nearest of kins shall request in writing the authorities concerned to a certain cause of death. In order to be autopsied you have to get the consent of the relatives and more often than not they will not consent. If there is foul play you have to run through this people like the city fiscal or the police just to ask for a request for autopsy. And the police authorities wont even ask for the autopsy for the medico legal investigation of the death of the person. These are the problems in our country its very hard to go beyond. It might be that a member of the family killed that person. If somebody is in the hospital and somebody in the room killed that patient, the doctor will wonder how he can die suddenly. Sudden infant deaths. These are the cases that need medico legal investigation. DOAs, people who died and had not been identified, unexpected sudden death especially when the deceased was in an apparent good health, death with natural disease but associated with physical evidence suspicious of foul play, death as a result of violence, accident, suicide, poisoning, death due to the negligent or improper act of another person, deaths of persons whose bodies are too burned. These are deaths that also need medico legal investigation based on the Center for Disease Control in 1998. It includes death which had occurred in custody, these are the types of death that ate not listed in our law that are classified as medico legal cases. A year ago, there were 19 deaths in the BBRC and theres no autopsy that was done. Deaths of persons whose bodies need to be cremated or buried at sea because once you cremate the body you have no more body to exhume. Thats related to disease relating to the employment to or accident on the job, deaths that are related to the disease that might constitute as threat to public health. These are the deaths that are not included in our list. In the US, they have a death investigation team. An author says that death investigation is composed of a coroner, a medical examiner and a forensic autopsy technician (theres no such thing daw, its the embalmer). They have to involve themselves with the people who investigate the scene they also do their own investigation on the backgrounds, conduct examination in the laboratory, they also deal with evidence that consult with concerned parties like the all types of forensic people as well as the police investigators and they must testify in court. In our country, we have a medical examiner, but most often than not it is really the embalmer who does the autopsy. Our medico legal officer will just look at what the embalmer is doing. Doctor Fortun was doing an autopsy on a child and she found something unusual when she feels the rib of the child, theres may be a fracture. She tells the medico legal officer who had autopsied that girl and said feel this out. This is abnormal. The medico legal officer said, he called the embalmer and say, will you please feel that rib if its abnormal or not. The laboratory examinations will have to be done in Manila, the PNP Crime Lab and the NBI Crime Lab. (I dont know and I dont think they obtain evidence, I dont Page 12 of 37
July 26 IDENTIFICATION OF THE LIVING AND THE DEAD Medical reasons for establishing the identity of a living person and a dead body: a person is comatose infant Page 14 of 37
You need the help of experts or forensic people like forensic pathologist, orthodontologist, anthropologist when the dead bodies are severely injured or severely mutilated, decomposed or skeletized. The identity of a person is established by comparing or matching the parameters that can be measured with the parameters of another person which is suspected to belong to the body being measured. The best feature on how to identify a person is his specific features that are matched to one that is known to a certain person. METHODS OF IDENTIFICATION: Morphological characteristics. This is a method of identifying criminals thru height, weight, general physique, hair color and length, presence of beard and mustache, skin pigmentation and other facial appearances, eye color, shape of the lips, and chin. These can differentiate one person from another (e.g. race). Picture: get the frontal and the side view shot (more often than not, your left profile is different from the right profile) To determine the age: white thing around the eye, teeth only up to age 25 and a range is given, x-ray (oxification centers, bone growth) Clothing and jewelry. Tattoos. Other marks: Striae, pimples, cleft lip, tribal marks, body piercing. Health records (scar, disease) Vertillian system of identification. Get 11 measurements from the person Write down and describe all the persons individual markings and personal characteristics It is flawed, it does not take into account changes with age Page 15 of 37
Fingerprints Three main patterns: loops, whirls and arches or a combination of any of these three. Used to ascertain a positive ID of a person No two persons have the same fingerprint even twins Cannot be altered by time or injury Can be extracted in any surface they come into contact with. Three Types Patent prints -left when a foreign substance on the skin of a finger comes in contact with the smooth surface of another object Plastic prints -left when a finger touches a soft malleable surface Latent prints impressions secreted in a surface or an object that is invisible to the eye, the result from perspiration from the sweat pores found on the ridges of sweat pores -invisible to the eye for -visible prints no need enhancements for needs enhancement (e.g. dusting)
No less than 16 points of similarity before declaring prints to be identical The investigating agency must already have a file of fingerprints for comparison For decomposed or damaged bodies: use specialized technique from a fingerprint expert; can be obtained from despomated skin of the underlying epidermis after shedding the stratum corneum (the fisrt layer) when it comes to prolonged submersion; using the surface below the stratum corneum
Palm prints and sole prints it is believed that people do not have the same Page 16 of 37
Principles o no two persons have the same DNA pattern except for identical twins or clones each part of your body contains the same DNA
If the DNA pattern left at the scene of the crime does not match the suspects DNA pattern, the suspect was never in that scene. If it matches the suspects DNA pattern, it puts the suspect in the vicinity of the scene of the crime but does not necessarily mean that he is guilty of the crime. The DNA molecule consists of two strands of sugar and phosphate molecules that link to one another to form a double helix. Ten percent of the molecule is used for genetic coding and the rest are silent. These silent zones repeat themselves, meaning, there is only 10 percent of the billions of molecules in the body and only a few percent is specific to you alone but the distribution is unique for each one of us, the sequencing is different. The DNA is found in the nucleus and it is a double helix. It is very stable but the specimen that contains the DNA that is to be analyzed can easily be contaminated by the collector. DNA typing is a well-established means of identifying human remains and is a powerful tool resorted to when traditional methods of identification are not helpful. Page 17 of 37
Blood groups can only be used for exclusion in paternity or maternity testing; not accurate like that of DNA analysis. If the childs blood type is O and the mothers blood type is O, the fathers could be A or B. Samples for DNA testing: mother, child and probable father. In paternity exclusion, if theres none matching profiles in at least two DNA locations it can constitute conclusive proof that the alleged father is not the biological father. In child sexual abuse cases, it does not necessarily exonerate the suspect from the abuse charges; it just means that the abuse did not impregnate the child. In paternity inclusion, complete matches in the DNA profiles of the child and the alleged father will not necessarily establish paternity. The strength of the matches is determined statistically.
JULY 31 (SATURDAY)
Use of DNA evidence in courts: Important to use DNA- allowable for ID and testing of parentage SC said DNA can be used as corroborative evidence together with other evidences Find out how sample collected, handled, possibility of contaminating samples, standard procedure followed in analysis, proper standards followed in conducting tests and qualifications of the analysts who conducted the DNA tests (questions that should be answered when you present evidence in court) Page 18 of 37
DNA report contains: what were the samples tested the controls used DNA profile of sample consistent with that of the suspects Statistics of the probability that the evidence sample came from the suspect Conclusion based on the results of their test
How are these interpreted? Independent DNA profiles of the victim (sexually assaulted kid) and the reference samples are compared. The results are either inconclusive or theres an exclusion or an inclusion.
1. Inconclusive - DNA testing did not produce info that would include or exclude the suspect. May result from improper collection, handling or storage and can occur when quantity of intact DNA is insufficient or sample contains complex mixture from several individuals (do not contaminate!) 2. Exclusion - if the DNA profile from the sample does not match the profile of the suspects DNA reference sample. Suspect excluded as a source of the DNA but does not equate to innocence and does not automatically absolve suspect of the crime because he may have committed the crime but did not leave any DNA samples. May indicate involvement of another person. 3. Inclusion DNA sample from the suspects DNA reference sample matches the DNA profile of the sample taken from the victim or scene of the crime. Suspect is included as a potential source of the DNA but does not automatically determine the suspects guilt. You have to present other evidences to prove if hes guilty or not. Statistical analysis will estimate significance of the match:
1. random match probability - probability that an innocent individual who is unrelated to the suspect and chosen randomly from the population will match the DNA profile taken from the crime scene 2. Likelihood ratio ratio of the probability that the DNA profile in the evidence sample came from the suspect and the probability that the DNA sample came from a random unrelated person. Ratio of the probability of the match given that the defendant is guilty to the probability of a match that the defendant is innocent. > 1, 000 = very strong evidence to prove that this DNA belongs to defendant Page 19 of 37
Wounds/ injuries tissue damage from mechanical force or from non mechanical forces; breach in the skin; caused by outside objects or force either physical or chemical - Results from accident, act of self-harm (self-inflicted) or from action of a third party
How caused? 1. Kinetic caused by application of mechanical or physical force Mechanical force causes two types of trauma: blunt and sharp Blunt force trauma causes abrasions, contusions and lacerations Sharp force trauma leads to incised wound or stab wound
2. Non-kinetic injuries come from non-motion trauma like thermal, chemical, electrical, radiation or exposure to atmospheric pressure
Important when describing the wound how it looks like, what kind? Demand from doctor, you have to know whether blunt or sharp force, what are the dimensions, positions, etc.
Abrasion superficial type; involves epidermis; no bleeding involved; e.g. scratch; deep abrasions can have bleeding because of blood vessels Tangential glancing impact (something falls on your body) crushing; size and shape will depend on the kind of object which comes into contact with the skin Linear abrasion, broad, crushed.
Contusions, bruises (ecchymosis, hematoma) breakage or rupture of blood vessels cause escape of blood from blood vessels to the dermis resulting to discoloration External bruising and internal bruising (bruises on internal organs) The greater the force the greater the bruising the site of bruising does not necessarily reveal the site of trauma because blood is not static, can move by gravity initially reddish / purplish to yellowish or brown (d/t breakdown of hemoglobin) The usual guide in determining the age of the bruises has been discarded. It was discovered that some bruises will only appear later on when there Page 20 of 37
Lacerations result of blunt force overstretching the skin and there will be a split of the full thickness of the skin deep and will bleed important to look for bridging fibers (remain intact in lacerations and will not be cut) skin can be compressed within the applied force and the underlying bone rare in soft fleshy areas of the body margins are always ragged if caused by thin sharp object, the wound is sharply defined and may be mistaken for incision but under the microscope there could be abrasions and contusions on the edges and bridging fibers in the laceration
1. Incised wounds also caused by objects with sharp and cutting edge and distinguished from a stabbed wound by being longer than deep - Edges will give indication of the sharpness of the object used. Very sharp objects will not leave bruising on the edges, no bridging fibers. - rarely life threatening unless it cuts deep into a tissue like your jugular artery 2. Stab wounds wounds that are deeper than they are longer Depth of the injury will make it fatal because of the bleeding Any object with a point or a tip can cause it, edge need not be sharp. Pressed into the skin with enough force to overcome the natural elasticity of the skin Appearance does not necessarily mimic the cross-sectional shape of the object used. Contraction of the elastic fibers of the skin will distort a slit like wound after removing the weapon Shape of the wound can tell you if it was a single edged weapon or double edged knife Pushing the edges of the wound together is not an effective way of measuring the size of the wound and determining the size of the weapon Size of the wound will depend on the shape of the blade and how it was inserted. Movement of the knife in the wound will change the shape and can enlarge the wound opening If knife fully inserted bruising might result d/t the hilt of the weapon or by the hand of the assailant Page 21 of 37 -
By looking at the injuries alone it is very difficult to determine which of these three caused a wound. You have to look at circumstances. Get a history on how it was incurred.
Bite marks in a child is pathognomonic and the child was definitely abused. To identify the teeth marks you need a dentist and you need to get an impression of the suspects teeth and compare. It can also be a source for DNA collection.
DEFENSE WOUNDS Found in victims who are trying to defend themselves from an attack so it will depend on the kind of weapon used
Self-inflicted injuries - no definite characteristics that define these. But a person who wants to hurt himself prefer stab or incised or gunshot wounds. In areas that can be reached, unusual areas include the eyes, lips, nipple and genitalia. Blunt force injuries are rarely self-inflicted.
Survival: If theres a lot of bleeding the body has a mechanism to prevent shock called Compensated shock. But if he will not get any medical attention and body cant maintain it, body will go to uncompensated shock and will lead to death.
Aug 2 Violence against women. RA 9262. When do violence against women and their children occur? Violence according to the WHO: the intentional use of physical force or power, threatened or actual against ones self or another person (here were talking about another person) that results in or has a highlight resulting in injury, death, psychological harm, mal-development or deprivation. The intentionality is always Page 22 of 37
ASPHYXIA. Absence of pulse. It describes a range of conditions for which the lack of oxygen is considered the cause. Mechanism: obstructive or non-obstructive The obstructive type is medico-legally significant. Classical Features: It is not diagnostic. Not definite signs of asphyxia like: facial congestion, facial edema, facial cyanosis, petechial hemorrhages in the skin and in the eye, star dose spots Conditions/causes 1. Suffocation Lack of oxygen in the inspired air Example: Putting plastic bags on the head of prisoners There is quick death and minimal signs of asphyxia except for pallor in the face Not struggling to breath; there is low external pressure 2. Smothering The victim struggles May experience cyanosis and congestion Bruises and abrasions on the face, on the lips, or inside the mouth Non-struggling victims: may not see any of the signs; difficult to diagnose 3. Choking or gagging Internal obstruction of the upper airway passages by an object or substance impacted in the pharynx or larynx Mucus membranes swell or congest if you breathe thru your nose There will be respiratory distress, can become cyanosis and congested face and neck up 4. Strangulation or hanging Three forms of prime forensic importance Manual strangulation Ligature strangulation use of band around the circumference of the neck Hanging pressure of the ligature on the neck produced by the weight of the body Can result into two effects: classical asphyxia signs the person died a slow death; no asphyxia signs there was sudden cardiac arrest The effects and events depends on the method used, size of the pressure, Page 29 of 37
TRANSPORT INJURIES:
Primary injuries from the direct contact of the vehicle Primary injuries are recognizable and may take the pattern of the bumper Page 30 of 37
Secondary injuries from the contact of other objects or the ground after contact with the vehicle Often more serious and potentially lethal than primary injuries (e.g. head and spinal injuries)
Car occupant The injuries suffered will depend on the kind of impact Vehicle hit from behind called acceleration impact Side impact and rollovers least common From the front - there will be acceleration then deceleration. Deceleration impacts without restraint (no seatbelts) and youre accelerating with the car and the car hits another car your body is still accelerating; your head can hit the windshield or your chest the dashboard and other injuries on the upper part of the body. There could also be injuries on the lower part of the body, in the ankles, hips or knees. Organs in your body also accelerate and in the act of deceleration pulmonary veins, aortic veins attached to the body can be torn off so theres internal bleeding. You may also sustain injuries within your brain since the brain moves in your skull. you may have concussions and contusions.
Motorcyle injuries due to falls from the machine you can have abrasions, injuries in the head bicycles more milder forms since lower speeds but the problem is when they are hit by other vehicles wear appropriate safety gears
Bodies recovered from water could have died from natural causes before entering the water. Determine WON victim died of natural causes before entering the water or while in the water having entered it either voluntarily or accidentally. Did he die of unnatural causes before entering the water? Did he die from exposure or hypothermia while in the water? Died of injuries after entering water? Did he die of submersion or drowning?
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S/Sx of Submersion: 1. 2. 3. 4. washerwomans fingers/hand macerations and skin will peel off after weeks of immersion decomposition Eventually your body will float. The only time body wont float is when youre submerged in very cold water.
How do we know if these injuries are post-mortem or ante-mortem? Injuries must be seen under the microscope and if theres inflammatory reaction seen then you know injuries are before death since there are no inflammatory reactions if you got injured after you died.
DROWNING you die of suffocation because of water within your lungs and you have to be immersed in water Effect depends whether you drowned in fresh or sea water. Fresh water is absorbed into our circulatory system resulting to volume overload and hemodilution, eventually leading to cardiac arrest. Sea water more concentrated than blood, so fluid in our blood will go out into our lungs and theres pulmonary edema or congestion resulting to hypoxia, respiratory arrest, cardiac failure and cardiac arrest Post mortem findings variable and cause of death hard to prove 5 stages a. You struggle, you may find bruises in your chest and shoulders b. You get tired and you sink c. You dont want to breathe in water so you stop breathing. Because we hold our breath carbon dioxide goes up so respiratory centers in our body say breathe so we breathe in water d. Cough vomit, loss of consciousness. Convulsions. Involuntary respiratory movements and we keep inhaling water. e. Respiratory arrest and cardiac arrest. You could drown within 10 minutes In 10-20% of the victims laryngospasm can happen and since larynx remains closed water cannot enter lungs = dry drowning The rest theres relaxation of the airway and water enters the lungs There can be blood tinged froth in the mouth and nostrils which is more common in seawater drowning. Sand, silt, seaweed may be found in the lungs sign of life before immersion BUT Finding of foreign material in stomach weighs heavier than finding them in the lungs because theres a sphincter of some sort in the stomach which does not relax when youre dead unlike airways which can relax so water may flow freely.
Mechanism of death as a Result of Submersion is not always classical drowning because most of them die quickly and the result is usually cardiac arrest. Page 32 of 37
Questions to answer in an investigation: 1. 2. 3. 4. was the person dead or alive when he entered the water is the cause of death drowning? If not what is the cause of death? why did the victim enter the water? why was the victim unable to survive in the water? Did this victim have other health problems or he was already injured? 5. what were the circumstances preceding death? very important to identify the body. 6. what were the circumstances when the body was recovered? 7. autopsy findings #s 1 and 2 are very important because these will have to be correlated with autopsy findings and if theres concurrence between the two then pathologist can make the findings.
ALCOHOL Alcohol abuse usually encountered in child abuse and rape cases. Its a drug and addictive. Makes one prone to accidents and an underlying cause of misdemeanor, assault and homicide.
S/Sx of alcohol intoxication: 1. Excitement - lack of inhibition or self-control, feelings of well-being 2. Incoordination and Confusion loss of nervous control of your body, blunting of perceptions, no muscular corrdination, nausea, vomiting, cardiac and respiratory symptoms 3. Narcossis or Coma deep sleep, slow breathing, paralysis of cardiac and respiratory centers which can lead to death Males cannot say that they could not have raped a girl because they were drunk because erection can happen in the excitement stage. On the other hand, they take advantage of girls when the girls get into the incoordination and confusion stage (Drug facilitated sexual abuse)
How do we diagnose drunkenness? 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. alcoholic smell of breath or vomitus dry tongue excessive salivation irregular behavior bloodshot eyes thickness of speech tremors, error of coordination and orientation Page 33 of 37
Factors that affect absorption of alcohol: 1. weight- the heavier you are, the more water content and since alcohol is soluble in water, alcohol is easily absorbed in the water content of our body so a person with more water content does not easily get drunk as a person with less water content or weight 2. Fatty foods delay alcohol absorption. Alcohol is absorbed in the small intestine but you can delay absorption if alcohol stays in stomach. Sept. 20 Understanding the Child Child development: - Continuous process that starts from birth to maturity, and goes to define stages and phases. Before you can go to the next phase, the child must master first the previous stage. - Now the skills and the complexities as he grows older centers all in the physical, mental, social, and emotional function of that person. It affects cognitive development, emotional development, and social development. I. First 3 to 4 years of baby: - Neurons start to connect with one another. And the only way these neurons get connected with one another is if the baby is stimulated at the time when he is born. - Experience leads to neural changes in the brain. - Visual stimulation should happen in the first 6 months for the necessary neural pathway to develop. - You are now developing communication with the baby. If you meet the needs of the child, that child will learn to trust you and will develop an attachment to you as a caregiver. - If you need the baby to master a certain task, he must be stimulated at the right time, given the right experience. Example, a 6-month-old baby, you cant teach that baby to walk, since he has not developed the muscles to Page 34 of 37
Impact of abuse at this stage: - For babies, as they grow, anything the parents do is correct, so if the babies sees the father and mother quarreling, they would see that as a normal thing to happen. - When they are abused at this age, especially when it comes to corporal punishment, they will only understand the pain; they dont understand the reason for the punishment. - These children are egocentric in thinking. Everything is I, me mine. They cannot relate themselves to the outside world. Its up to the parents to teach the child to relate with the outside world by allowing the child to play, to converse and talk with him, to interact with his environment, to do things on his own. - Children have immature reasoning. They think everything that happens is their fault. If they get physically abused, the child thinks, Its my fault. - In court, lawyers should argue objections out of the childs hearing. The child will think its his fault: My lawyer is shouting at me because I probably did something wrong. II. Preschool: - May signal the start of mental and behavioral problems. The child grows older, learns new skills, learns to be industrial, etc. If the child doesnt learn new things, she will learn not to take any initiative at all and not develop selfesteem. - Morally, they will do things to please the other people other than the parents. Now they have a conscience and are aware of social norms. - A 4-year-old victim will say, Hindi ako magsasabi kahit kanino kasi yan ang sabi nila. Or Hindi naman ito bad kasi ginawa ni tatay. Hindi naman masakit, nakakakiliti nga. - A 9-year-old victim will say, Bastos tong ginagawa ko. Kung magsumbong ako, kawawa naman si tatay, baka makulong din siya. A 4-year-old is more inward-looking as compared with a 9-year-old. Page 35 of 37
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