ABMDI Board (F-ABMDI) key terms

The formal process of investigating deaths that fall under legal authority, including scene examination, decedent assessment, records review, and determination of cause and manner of death.

An elected or appointed public official, often without a medical degree, empowered by law to investigate certain deaths and, in some jurisdictions, to hold inquests.

A physician, typically board-certified in forensic pathology, who is appointed to investigate deaths and is authorized to perform or direct autopsies and certify cause and manner of death.

The geographic area and legal scope of authority within which an investigator or office may act, including which deaths must be reported and investigated.

The statutory or constitutional power that allows an investigator to enter a scene, take custody of a body, gather evidence, and obtain records without consent.

A death that law or regulation requires be reported to the medicolegal authority, such as unexpected, violent, suspicious, unattended, or custodial deaths.

Assessment and management of hazards at a death scene, including environmental, chemical, biological, structural, and interpersonal risks, before and during investigation.

A structured initial survey of the death scene to identify hazards, establish boundaries, locate evidence and the decedent, and plan documentation.

The systematic recording of a death scene through notes, photographs, sketches, and measurements so that conditions can be reconstructed later.

The use of overall, midrange, and close-up photographs with and without scale to record scene conditions, the decedent, and evidence accurately.

Steps taken to protect physical and biological evidence from contamination, loss, alteration, or destruction from the time it is found until it is analyzed.

Gloves, gowns, masks, eye protection, and other barriers worn to protect the investigator and prevent contamination of the scene and evidence.

A documented, unbroken record of who collected, handled, transferred, and stored an item of evidence or property, from collection through final disposition.

A detailed, witnessed listing of money, jewelry, documents, medications, and other items found with the decedent, recorded for safekeeping and later release.

Establishing a decedent's identity through reliable methods such as fingerprints, dental comparison, DNA, or radiographs rather than visual recognition alone.

Recognition of a decedent by a family member or witness; useful but unreliable after trauma, decomposition, or distortion and therefore usually corroborated.

The use of dental records, restorations, and radiographs to identify unknown decedents, especially when remains are skeletonized, burned, or otherwise unrecognizable.

A systematic head-to-toe inspection and documentation of a decedent's body, including injuries, marks, scars, tattoos, and medical devices, before or without internal autopsy.

The reddish-purple discoloration caused by blood settling in dependent vessels after death; it helps assess body position and postmortem interval.

Stiffening of muscles after death from chemical changes in muscle tissue; its progression in the body helps estimate time since death.

The estimated time between death and discovery, based on body temperature, lividity, rigor, decomposition, and scene and witness information.

The disease or injury that initiated the chain of events leading to death, stated on the death certificate as the underlying cause.

The physiologic derangement or process by which a cause of death produces death, such as exsanguination, sepsis, or cardiac arrhythmia.

The classification of how death came about-natural, accident, homicide, suicide, or undetermined-based on circumstances, investigation, and injury patterns.

A manner classification used when, after thorough investigation, information is insufficient or conflicting to choose among natural, accident, homicide, or suicide.

Injury from a projectile, described by entrance and exit features, range, trajectory, and associated findings such as soot, stippling, and fragmentation.

Small punctate abrasions caused by unburned powder grains striking the skin, indicating an intermediate-range gunshot wound and distinguishing it from soot deposition.

Injury produced by a cutting or piercing object, including incised wounds, stab wounds, and chop wounds, distinguished by clean edges and wound characteristics.

Injury from impact with a blunt object or surface, producing abrasions, contusions, lacerations, and fractures, often without sharp edges.

Death from impaired oxygen delivery or use, as in hanging, strangulation, drowning, or smothering, often with petechiae and congestion.

Testing of blood, urine, tissue, or other specimens to detect drugs, alcohol, poisons, and metabolites and to interpret their role in death.

Post-scene inquiries such as medical records review, witness interviews, toxicology, and law enforcement checks that refine the cause and manner determination.

The sudden death of an infant under one year that remains unexplained after complete autopsy, scene review, and history; a diagnosis of exclusion.

The legal document recording a death, including demographics, cause and manner, and certifier information, used for public health and legal purposes.

The authorized person, such as a physician, medical examiner, or coroner, who signs the death certificate and attests to cause and manner.

A written, factual account of the investigation, including scene findings, interviews, records, and conclusions, prepared for the case file and legal use.

Oral evidence given in court by a qualified witness offering opinions within their expertise, based on reliable methods and case facts.

The ethical and legal duty to protect sensitive decedent, family, and case information from unauthorized disclosure and to share it only as authorized.

Standards of conduct for death investigators, including objectivity, honesty, confidentiality, respect for the decedent and family, and avoidance of conflicts of interest.