Initial Response, Notification, and Scene Assessment
Receiving the call
Notification arrives from law enforcement, EMS, hospitals, hospice, nursing homes, funeral homes, or family members. Screening is the first skill: is this a reportable death, and is it ours? Gather the decedent's name, age, location, circumstances, medical history, who is on scene, and whether the body has been moved. Instruct the caller to disturb nothing further. Record the time of notification and the caller's identity.
Safety before service
Do not enter an unsecured scene. Firearms, dogs, chemical or fentanyl exposure, structural damage, and hostile family members are real hazards. Stage until law enforcement secures the location, and document why you waited.
The initial walkthrough
Enter with a purpose: observe and record before touching. Note environmental conditions, number of decedents, obvious trauma, odors, medical equipment, weapons, medication, drug paraphernalia, notes, signs of disturbance, and evidence that the body was moved or the scene altered by EMS or family. Photograph before moving anything. Determine early whether this is a crime scene; if so, your role becomes secondary and coordinated with detectives.
Pronouncement versus certification is a classic trap. EMS or an attending physician pronounces death; the medical examiner or coroner certifies cause and manner. Hospice and nursing-home deaths are often natural and releasable, but statutory reportable criteria still control - a fall with a hip fracture in a nursing home is not simply "expected."
Rule of thumb: observe, record, then touch - arrive, secure, document, and only then proceed to examination and removal.