How to perform an autopsy on a person

Content

Steps
Tips
Warnings

An autopsy is an examination of the body of a deceased person by a pathologist. A medical autopsy is performed if there is no suspicion of a violent death. If there is such a suspicion, a more detailed forensic autopsy is done. In both cases, an autopsy is performed in order to determine four indicators: the time of death, its cause, the presence of bodily harm and the type of death (suicide, homicide, natural death). This article will give you an idea of how an autopsy is performed, but the author himself does not encourage you to try to do it yourself.

Steps

1 Have a pen and paper ready for your notes, or use a voice recorder.
2 First, write down the following information: height, weight, age and gender of the deceased person. You also need to include special features such as birthmarks, scars or tattoos.
3 At this stage, you also need to take fingerprints, as they may be needed in a police investigation.
4 Examine the body very carefully and thoroughly using a magnifying glass. Check clothing and skin for any doubtful marks. Fibers of tissue that do not belong to the clothing of the deceased, drops of blood, organic matter and other traces must be recorded. If bruises, wounds, marks are noticed on the skin, this should also be recorded. If a violent death is suspected, examine the victim's subungual contents. Blood or skin cells of the attacker can often be found.
5 Determine if dental treatment has been performed. The characteristics of the teeth are often used to identify the body of the deceased.Get an X-ray to see if there were any broken bones or cracks, or to check for medical devices such as a pacemaker. These characteristics can also be used to identify the body.
6 Check the genital area for signs of rape, such as bruising and laceration. This will help determine whether the death was violent or not.
7 Now you need to take pictures of the body in clothes and the naked body. Take extra care when removing clothing as it may be needed for police investigations. Take a close-up shot of the marks, bruises, bloodstains, etc., that you noticed earlier.
8 Take a blood sample, it can be used to perform a DNA test or to find out if the victim has taken drugs or drunk alcohol, or to determine if the victim has been poisoned.
9 Now it's time to open up the abdominal cavity, but let's not go too deep. Make a Y-shaped incision starting at each shoulder, through the ribcage, down to the sternum, and then to the navel.Pull back the skin and check for broken ribs. ...
10 Divide the chest, open it and examine the lungs and heart, document any abnormalities, and take a second blood sample directly from the heart.
11 Then you need to examine each organ in the chest cavity separately. Weigh each organ, if you find any important detail, fix it. Take a tissue sample in case more testing is needed. ...
12 Then repeat the same procedure with lower abdominal organs such as the spleen and intestines, as sometimes partially digested food can be used as an indicator of time to death.
13 It is also necessary to take a urine sample from the bladder using a syringe, just as the blood sample was taken. Urine can be used for tests to detect drug traces or poisoning.
14 Always examine the eyes with caution; a hemangioma or petechial rash (small blood vessels) may be a sign of choking or strangulation.
15 Then examine the head. Check your skull for injuries such as fractures or bruises.
16 Take off the roof of the skull, take out the brain. Repeat the same procedure as for the other organs, weigh and take a sample.
17 After completing the autopsy, finish your notes or speak the final text on the recorder. Establish the cause of death and the reasons that prompted you to draw such a conclusion. br>
18 Be sure to mention details, even if they are minor, as they can be the primary clue for ending murders or reassuring family members. .
19 Based on your research (assuming you are a licensed pathologist), the Chief Medical Examiner will issue a Death Certificate.
20 The body will be returned to the surviving family members for the funeral. .

Tips

Please note that some students, artists or scientists reportedly removed corpses from graves, opened them, and skinned them during the Middle Ages and in the early times, when the data was apparently not published and photographs were not taken. Thus, they studied, wrote down information regarding human anatomy and physiology, and made sketches.