T R A N S P O R T A T I O N I N J U R I E S
• PURPOSES OF MEDICO-LEGAL INVESTIGATION IN TRANSPORTATION INJURIES
• 1.Determine the cause of death
• 2.Confirm that death was caused by injuries suffered from accident
• 3.Detect the extent of injuries
• 4.Detect any disease or factor that could have precipitated or contributed to the death or accident
• 5.For third party insurance.
• 6.For accident reconstruction.
• 7.For identification of the car in hit and run case
•TYPES OF ACCIDENT
Auto-pedestrian accident ( car vs man ) Auto-auto accident ( car vs car )
Auto-cycle accident Auto-train accident TYPES OF INJURIES
Man can be injured in 2 ways –
as pedestrian (outside the car) (pedestrian injury) as occupant (during in the car) ( auto-auto ) (vehicle occupant injury)
Auto-pedestrian accident Type of pedestrian injuries - 1. Primary impact injuries 2. Secondary impact injuries
3. Secondary injuries( Tertiary impact)
4. Run over injuries (head, chest, abdomen, and
limb)
Auto-auto accident ( car vs car ) Type of occupant injuries
1. Driver injury
2. The front seat passenger
3. The back seat passengers
• Accident reconstruction
1. Examination of victim
2. Examination of the car
•Possible questions
Name the type of external injuries the person sustained (eg. picture of facial inj or chest injury driver inj of occupant inj in auto auto accident, primary impact injury of legs-> pedestrian inj in auto-ped acci)
Aims & objectives of doing autopsy in TA
List the pedestrian /occupant injuries in auto-pedestrian/ auto-auto accident
Medico-legal importance of P/ S or driver injury
Possible cause of death regarding to the given statement
Explain 2/3 important points in medico-legal investigation for accident reconstruction
THANATHOLOGY & SUDDEN NATURAL DEATH
Types of death by law Natural death
Unnatural death – Accidental
- Homicidal
- Suicidal
ESTIMATION OF POST-MORTEM INTERVAL:
The interval between time of death and the time of examination of a body is known as Post Mortem interval(Definition PMI).
This is important :
• To know when the crime was committed
• It gives the police a starting point for their enquiries, and allows them to deal more effectively with the information available
• It might enable to exclude some suspects and the search for the likely culprits started earlier, and
• Also to check on a suspect’s statements
parameters available for estimation of time since death) (BMI)
(1) Cooling of the body (2) Hypostatic staining (3) Rigor mortis
(4) Progress of decomposition, adipocere and mummification.
(5) Entomology of the cadaver:
(6) Gastrointestinal and urinary tract: The amount of stomach contents and the extent of their digestion may be helpful to estimate the time of death. The stomach empties in 3 to 4 hours.
Accordingly if undigested food is found in the stomach at post-mortem examination the deceased must have died within 3 to 4 hours of his last meal.
Whether the bladder is empty or not, in the case of an individual having been murdered in bed at night, one can state that the individual had lived for some hours after going to bed if the bladder was found full of urine since people usually empty their bladder before going to bed.
(7) CSF: Examination of CSF obtained by cisternal puncture, which should be free from blood, is useful in adults above 15 years of age.
(8) Vitreous humour: There is increase in the K concentration and decrease in Na during the first 85 hrs after death. The levels of glucose and pyruvic acid decrease and lactic acid increase.
(9)Scene markers: though unscientific, is often accurate in some circumstances, esp; in case of badly decomposed body. The date of mail or newspapers, degree of coagulation of milk, state of food on a table etc. may be valuable. If the
watch has stopped, the hour at which it has stopped should be noted. In drowning, the watch commonly stops shortly after immersion.
Aims and objectives of doing post-mortem examination in sudden deaths
1. to uncover secret homicides
2. to check and prevent certain public health hazards
3. to enable widow, orphans or dependents to receive death benefits to which they are entitled
4. to avoid unwarranted suspicion or prosecution of innocent persons 5. to prevent false claims against insurers
CLASSIFICATION OF SUDDEN DEATHS (A)cardiac causes
(B) respiratory causes (C) disease of the CNS
(D) diseases of gastrointestinal system (E) diseases of urogenital system
(F) miscellaneous
•Possible questions
Definition of death & types
What is PMI , importance of PMI
(points)parameters available for estimation of time since death (Estimation of post-mortem interval)
Definition of SUD
Objectives of autopsy in SUD
Important findings & given COD Disease & trauma relation
