How long to identify a body

Skip to main content. Identifying a body is nothing like this in real life. FACT: Most identification is done via photograph in a comfortable sitting room.

FACT: The viewing rooms are carefully monitored for anything that could upset or offend visiting families. Passing out is likely. They had no idea! They were so young! FACT: Medical examiners, crisis counselors, and morgue attendants are there to help.

Ways To Deal With Grief. When human remains are recovered, three primary scientific methods are traditionally used to identify who they belong to:. The discovery of medical implants during an autopsy can also be informative. These include prosthetic joints , breast implants , pacemakers or dental implants.

Investigators may be able to link these to patient records via their unique markings , including a trade mark, date of manufacture and serial number. In Australia, the Australian Orthopaedic Association National Joint Replacement Registry and Australian Breast Device Registry collect and store information that can allow people who have had joint or breast surgery to be identified.

But there are no national registers of heart or dental implants. Such mandatory records would allow implants to be easily traced back to recipients or surgeons. Forensic scientists can also compare medical images , such as x-rays or CT scans, taken before and after death. For head images, unique features such as the sinuses or the arrangement and condition of the teeth can be compared.

Body scans can also be used to look for rarer skeletal features , such as fractures, amputations or cancer lesions. These scientific techniques, either individually or in combination, have been successfully used to identify large numbers of missing persons or disaster victims. Computerisation, digitisation and miniaturisation of forensic technologies have further improved the identification process.

Now, fingerprints , teeth , DNA and medical images can be quickly and easily collected and searched in real time using portable instruments at the scenes of mass disasters. Read more: How dental records will help identify bodies from MH These methods are only as good as the information we have from when the person was alive.

A death should be reported by the Governor of a prison immediately following the death of a prisoner no matter what the cause of death is. Find out how to contact the Coroners Service for Northern Ireland. A Coroner will first gather information to investigate whether a death was due to natural causes and if a doctor can certify the medical cause of death.

The Coroner will ask the police to gather the information about the death. This will usually include speaking to the family of the deceased, anyone who was caring for the deceased and anyone who was there when the death happened.

If the reason why a doctor cannot certify the death is simply because they have not treated the patient in the last 28 days, then the Coroner will discuss the cause of death with the doctor. If a Coroner is satisfied that death was from natural causes and no further investigation is necessary, then they may accept the medical cause of death that a doctor gives and issue a Coroner's notification to allow the death to be registered. If a doctor cannot certify the medical cause of death then a Coroner will investigate the death and may order a post-mortem examination to be carried out.

If the Coroner orders a post-mortem examination then a member of the family will be asked to formally identify the body. This could be to the police at the place where the death has happened or at the mortuary before the post-mortem examination is carried out.

The Coroner will normally ask the police to tell relatives of the need for a post-mortem examination unless this is not possible or would unduly delay the examination. The consent of the next of kin is not required for a Coroners post-mortem examination to take place.

Coroners Liaison Officers are people who work for a Coroner to help bereaved families when a post-mortem examination has been ordered. The Coroners Liaison Officer will contact the family and forward written information to the family about the preliminary cause of death and enclose documents to assist with financial matters.

Find out more about coroner liaison officers. A post-mortem examination or autopsy is an examination of the body following death.

It is carried out by a pathologist. These are doctors who are experts in finding out the cause of death. The examination is carried out as soon as possible after death and every effort is made to minimise any delay. The pathologist will start with an external examination of the body followed by an internal examination.

The major internal organs will need to be removed and examined. In most cases the organs are returned to the body afterwards. Although some information can be obtained from looking directly at organs in a post-mortem examination, often the only way to understand properly what has happened is:. It is usually necessary to retain small tissue samples for further examination and for further tests such as looking at chromosomes or genes and searching for infections due to bacteria or viruses that may have caused the death.

Small samples of tissue are removed from the organs and placed in small plastic containers. The samples measure around 1. The tissue is chemically treated to remove water, which is replaced with wax. This process creates tissue blocks. Very thin slices sections a tenth of the thickness of a human hair are then cut from the surface.

The sections are placed on glass slides so that they can be examined under a microscope. More than one slide can be cut from each block. The tissue blocks and slides are stored in special cabinets as part of the medical pathology records and in line with the Human Tissue Act The process of creating tissue blocks and slides may create very small amounts of unused or residual tissue.

This is usually disposed of by incineration.