SLU School of Medicine Masters Conference: Medicolegal Death Investigators Training Course

The purpose of this course is to provide information to individuals who work in or work with medicolegal offices. This course is intended as an introductory level course for those new to medicolegal death investigation. Participants learn to develop the essential facts regarding the death scene, medical history and other information that assists medical examiners/coroners in the determination of a person's cause and manner of death.

Lectures are presented by forensic specialists on all major categories of deaths that occur in medicolegal jurisdictions, with particular emphasis placed on the investigator's role in the death investigation. Since the majority of the presenters are from the St. Louis Metropolitan area, Medicolegal procedures of the local jurisdictions are presented, however, many of these procedures can be transferred to your local jurisdiction.

The course is designed to teach the 29 national guidelines as set forth in the National Institutes of Justice 1999 publication, "Death Investigation: A Guide for the Scene Investigator." Participants are instructed in the proper way to disseminate information to forensic scientists and law enforcement personnel so that a coordinated, efficient and complete death investigation can be achieved.

This course emphasizes the medical aspects of death investigation and is not designed to be a homicide seminar. This course is designed as an introductory level course. Experienced death investigators seeking information beyond the basic introductory information presented in the basic course should consider our Masters Death Investigation Course.  NamUs staff will present on resources the NamUs program offers medicolegal death investigators to resolve unidentified remains cases.