ABMDI Registry case studies
ABMDI Registry · Put your knowledge to work in context.
The American Board of Medicolegal Death Investigators (ABMDI) is a voluntary, national, not-for-profit, independent professional certification board established to promote the highest standards of practice for medicolegal death investigators. It certifies individuals who have the proven knowledge and skills necessary to perform medicolegal death investigations as set forth in the National Institute of Justice's 1999 publication Death Investigation: A Guide for the Scene Investigator, with a 2011 updated version available. The ABMDI Registry case studies are 5 cases and about 5,480 words.
1The Hospice Patient With an Undocumented Fall
A 78-year-old woman with end-stage congestive heart failure, enrolled in hospice for two months, is found dead in her assisted-living apartment at 06:15 by a medication aide. Her daughter arrives at 08:00 and tells you the resident fell in the bathroom two days earlier and that staff "never called her." The facility incident log has no entry for a fall, but an aide mentions a "skin tear" on the left forearm first noted on the day shift.
1,037 words, about 5 min2The Note the Girlfriend Picked Up
A 41-year-old man is found dead in the recliner of his apartment by his girlfriend. There is a contact gunshot wound to the right temple and a revolver on the floor beside the chair.
1,059 words, about 5 min3The Warm Room and the Fixed Livor
A 57-year-old man is found by his landlord at 10:00 on a Tuesday. The thermostat is set to 78°F and the windows were closed against an outside temperature in the 90s.
1,130 words, about 6 min4The Four-Month-Old on the Adult Mattress
A 4-month-old girl is found unresponsive at 07:20 by her mother, who says the baby was "fine" at a 02:00 feeding. The baby was prone on an adult queen mattress beside her mother, with a loose quilt and two pillows; a crib in the corner is full of folded laundry and cardboard boxes.
1,140 words, about 6 min5The Sister-in-Law on the Unit
You are assigned to the death of an 88-year-old man at a skilled nursing facility. On arrival you recognize the charge nurse on the unit as your sister-in-law.
1,114 words, about 6 min