TY - JOUR PY - 2013// TI - Characteristics of medical examiner/coroner offices accredited by the National Association of Medical Examiners JO - Journal of forensic sciences A1 - Weinberg, Mitchell A1 - Weedn, Victor W. A1 - Weinberg, Seth A1 - Fowler, David SP - 1193 EP - 1199 VL - 58 IS - 5 N2 - The National Association of Medical Examiners accredits medical examiner and coroner offices. Approximately 60 offices were fully or provisionally accredited as of late 2011, and these offices serve one-quarter of the U.S. population. The calculated average population served was 1.6M but ranged from 0.3 to 10.5M. The calculated mean death rate was 794 deaths/100K population, and the mean homicide rate was 7.2 homicides/100K population. The calculated mean budget was $4.35M, but budgets ranged from $0.67 to $26.8M. The calculated mean budget/capita was $3.02 but ranged from $0.62 to $10.22. The average size of the facility was under 30,000 sq. ft. The calculated average staffing was found to include five forensic pathologists, four and a half autopsy technicians, and nine investigators. The mean forensic pathologists/1M population was 3.7. Calculated workload indices included 222 autopsies/pathologist and an autopsy rate of 77.6/100K population. These results show that offices of every size can achieve accreditation.

Language: en

LA - en SN - 0022-1198 UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1556-4029.12165 ID - ref1 ER -