Podcast #96 - Your Part in a Death Investigation with Darren Dake

Patients die.  It is a reality we all must face.  But what happens after you call the code?  This is when you may meet a death investigator such as Darren Dake.  He hosts the popular Coroner Talk website which has a weekly podcast.  After being invited to come onto his show, we wanted to share the conversation on our site to both help promote his work and to discuss some of the key points we can do to help facilitate a death investigation.

Some of the key points that came up in our conversation:

• ​Get labs early whenever possible
  • Especially try to do this before transferring the patient
  • Both serum and urine labs, especially toxicology, are beneficial in a death investigation
• Try and use medications that will not interfere with other testing
  • This is most important if those initial labs have not been drawn
  • Thoroughly document what medications were used in case there is a tox screen later
• Avoid cutting through areas where there is breakdown in fabric (punctures, abrasions, etc)
  • Try and cut along the seams of clothing
  • Cut around areas where there is potential evidence
• When removing clothing, separate them out
  • Paper bags are best, but in a pinch use plastic bags temporarily
  • Can use SANE kits where there is usually what you need for evidence collection
  • Avoid pillow cases or other things that may be reused
  • Keep clothing and materials separated out as much as possible (i.e. left vs right side)
• Have a way to hand evidence off to someone who can help preserve thechain of custody
  • Use security or a designated individual to hold onto all evidence and document this
  • Person holding evidence must have control of evidence at all times
• Know your laws and policies about disclosing information
  • HIPAA has certain policies about the role of law enforcement
  • When in doubt, contact your hospital's administrator and/or attorney
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Let us know what you think by giving us feedback here in the comments section or contacting us on Twitter or Facebook.  Remember to look us up on Libsyn and on iTunes.  If you have any questions you can also comment below, email at [email protected], or send a message from the page.  We hope to talk to everyone again soon.  ​Until then, continue to provide total care everywhere.

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