Job Description

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Duties

A death investigator, or medicolegal death investigator, investigates the circumstances of a variety of deaths, including unexplained or violent deaths, that fall under the jurisdiction of the North Carolina Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, as outlined in General Statutes, Article 16 of Section 130A in the North Carolina General Statutes and Office of the Chief Medical Examiner Guidelines. Using medical and legal knowledge, the death investigator gathers information about the case to assist the forensic pathologist in determining the cause and manner of death on cases that meet the jurisdictional requirement. The Eastern Forensic Center is the direct medical examiner for Pitt County and currently serves as the regional autopsy center for the eastern portion of North Carolina, encompassing approximately 31 counties.

Medicolegal death investigations typically include: examination of the deceased, examination of death scenes, collection and preservation of evidence, review of reports and related records, and related work as required according to established standards of practice. Investigators assure that deaths are investigated as established by General Statutes, Article 16 of Section 130A in the North Carolina General Statutes and Office of the Chief Medical Examiner Guidelines, including the types of deaths that in North Carolina must be reported to a medical examiner, such as homicide, suicide, accident, trauma, disaster, violence, unknown/unnatural/suspicious circumstances, in police custody or in jail or prison, poisoning or suspicion of, public health hazard, deaths during surgical or anesthetic procedures, sudden unexpected deaths not reasonably related to known previous disease, and deaths without medical attendance. For such deaths, duties include receipt of the initial reporting call from law enforcement, EMS, medical staff or other medical examiners, obtaining the appropriate case information to include details of the circumstances of the death, documenting the necessary information in written report format, submitting reports and information directly to the medical examiner and/or forensic pathologist, performing death scene investigations to include written and photographic documentation, collection of pertinent evidence, establishing and maintaining chain of custody of the decedents belongings for later processing by forensic staff in a controlled environment, transportation of the deceased to the Eastern Regional Forensic Pathology Center for examination, interacting with families and friends of the deceased and, when necessary, gathering information to assist in making positive identification of otherwise unidentified decedents. Death investigators also ensure the accuracy of historical, medical and scene information to form the basis for official death investigation reports, which will be utilized by the forensic pathologist or medical examiner to assist them in determining cause and manner of death. Death investigators are also required to participate in after-hours on-call on a rotational basis.

Requirements

Minimum Requirements

• Bachelors Degree or higher in Criminal Justice/Forensics, biological science, chemistry, or medical technology.
• American Board of Medicolegal Death Investigator (ABMDI) certification must be obtained within 18 months of employment.

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