Study forensic everything you need to know
Between the fun and the mystery, and the depth and depth of the greatness of medicine and its branches, it is necessary to address the specialization of forensic medicine , which includes the magic of conclusion and the passion for discovering the unknown , and a desire to reveal the secrets of crimes and their features within the framework of revealing the complete truth.
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What is the specialty of forensic medicine?
What is the specialty of forensic medicine?
The branch of medicine that deals with the application of medical knowledge to establish facts in civil or criminal legal cases, such as investigating the cause and time of suspicious death, also known as forensic pathology.
In many countries, forensic medicine is a medical specialty within the legal system, rather than within the health care system.
Study forensic everything you need to know
History of forensic medicine
History of forensic medicine
Medical certificates have been used in legal cases for more than 1,000 years. The subject was first systematically presented by the Italian Fortunatus Fidelis in 1598, and forensic medicine was recognized as a unique specialty in the early nineteenth century.
An autopsy was and still is the primary tool of forensic medicine, often used to identify the dead, and it can also determine the cause of death, as in cases of death caused by weapons for example, pathology can be presented in cooperation with forensic medicine – by studying the wound Detailed information about the type of weapon used as well as important contextual information, in a gunshot death can determine with reasonable accuracy about the range and angle of fire.
Forensic medicine is also a major factor in identifying victims of disasters, such as the crash of land ships or aircraft, and can greatly influence the outcome of trials dealing with insurance and inheritance issues.
Topics that forensic medicine deals with
Forensic medicine deals with
- Identification of the deceased
- Medical cause of death
- Interpretation and clarification of the harm
- method of death; Any accident, suicide, murder, drowning, suffocation, etc.
Advantages of studying this specialty
Studying forensic medicine will be an exciting and dynamic journey, as your entry into this specialty will make you a pivotal part of the investigation process and the implementation of the justice process in addition to protecting the public interest.
You will constantly learn new things every day, you will be the savior and the biggest supporter of providing information and facts with transparency and clarity, and forensic medicine can offer you unparalleled job opportunities.
Overlap of forensic medicine with other medical specialties
A forensic death investigation is a multidisciplinary task that involves cooperation and coordination between pathologists, crime scene investigators (CSIs), forensic scientists, and other professionals, such as anthropologists, entomologists, dentists, and many other experts. others.
Autopsy results are combined with results of other investigations, including microscopic examination of organs and tissues removed at autopsy, and toxicological analyzes (for example, of blood and urine) and correlated with the medical or clinical history of the deceased, as well as the circumstances of death, in order to Answering questions about his death .
Duties of the forensic physician
Duties of the forensic physician
Most of the forensic doctor’s work is lab-based; By examining traces of substances such as blood, hair, textile fibers, paint, glass, explosives, and drugs in an effort to connect suspects or separate them from victims or crime scenes, other forensic responsibilities and areas can include:
- Find and collect evidence at crime scenes
- Compilation of written reports
- Evidence gathering
- Document Validation
- Examination of fluid and tissue samples if drugs or toxins are used
- Presenting and defending evidence in court
- Use appropriate analytical techniques such as chromatography, electron microscopy and DNA profiling.
Disturbing crime scenes can be required to work in all weather conditions.
Determining the death time
Death time
One of the interesting topics that constitute the basic core of forensic medicine and that must be addressed is determining the time of death or the interval between the time of death and the time of finding the body (that is, the period following death), which often represents the most difficult and most accurate stage performed by the forensic doctor. .
As long as there is no witness to the death, or the time has passed since the accident, the exact time of death cannot be determined. The longer the time since death occurred, the greater the chance of misidentifying the postmortem interval.
There are several individual observations that can be used together to provide the best estimate of time of death. They include:
1-Thermal drop rate: the temperature decreases by one degree every hour during the first 8 hours after death, then by one degree every hour and a half to two hours during the next 16 hours for the first 8 hours (8_24 hours), so that the body temperature becomes equivalent to the ambient temperature after 24 hours .
2-Throwing cyanosis: It goes through three stages: stagnation, penetration, and absorption. For this, we use a special device with a weight of (2 kg/cm2) that applies pressure on the corpse and then raise it to monitor the time required for the color to return.
3-Throwing rigidity (muscular rigidity): a phenomenon that affects all the muscles of the body and is characterized by their contraction, stiffness and stability in one position. Immediately after death, the muscles relax, but after about two hours the rigidity begins from the top to the bottom, as the first muscles to get rigid are the muscles of the face, neck, then the trunk, then The upper and then lower ends. It takes 12 hours to cover the entire body.
4-Decay (rotting): It is a phenomenon in which the decomposition of organs and tissues occurs by the action of aerobic and anaerobic bacteria. This process begins immediately after death, but its manifestations take several hours, as a green spot appears on the abdomen at the end of the first 24 hours, to be the first sign of the decomposition process.
5-Emptying the stomach and the digestive system: The stomach empties its content within (3-6) hours after the last meal, and it may contain toxic or alcoholic substances that are responsible for death after eating, so it is important to open the stomach to monitor and detect food, and if it is present, it is Significant evidence that death occurred 6 hours ago.
6-Chemical changes of body fluids and parameters of the scene of death are also important and essential factors for estimating the time of death.
Fields of work in forensic medicine
Forensic experts are needed in government sectors, private organizations and research centers. Here are some of the sectors a forensic pathologist can find work in:
- Forensic laboratories
- branches of crime
- drug department
- Hospitals
- Police Department
- Security Service Agencies
Study forensic everything you need to know
Study forensic everything you need to know
