Citation

Schröder AS, Sperhake JP, Ondruschka B, Hoedtke J, Anders S. Notfall Rettungsmed. 2021; 24(8): 1070-1078.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2021, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/s10049-021-00902-z

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The determination of death is a routine medical task during emergency medical services (EMS) deployment and is mandatory also in cases of obvious violent crimes, accidents or suicides. The EMS team must be familiar with diverse state-level legal regulations for dealing with a deceased and the emergency physician must be proficient in performing the external post mortem examination and issuing the death certificate. In this article, the essential aspects for determining the diagnosis of death, performing the postmortem external examination and issuing the death certificate in the outpatient setting are explained from the perspective of forensic medicine and practical tips are given for proper handling. Appropriate handling of post mortem examinations and death certificates by the EMS is a prerequisite to safeguard the public legal interest and to ensure valid statistics on causes of death. © 2021, Springer Medizin Verlag GmbH, ein Teil von Springer Nature.

Language: de

Keywords

human; Resuscitation; Review; autopsy; forensic medicine; Cause of death; outpatient; emergency medicine; death; emergency health service; death certificate; Rigor mortis; Death certificate; death determination; Determination of death