Postmortem basics
(Part 1)
This is a very
serious job in THQ/DHQ .One must not take it lightly.If u do this wrong it may
cost you ur licence and even cause you real jail time if proven that criminal
negligence is there.So be very careful in doing this correctly.
The difference between MLC and Postmortem is that a postmortem is done
after the FIR is registered.Which means that it almost always brought to court
and u will b called as witness to cross examine.But MLC is not a registered FIR
so 90% oF mlc never see a court.
An MO perform Postmortem on male body and a WMO performs Postmortem on
female body.That is new law.Never agree to do postmortem on opposite gender.
Now lets review the procedure here.
1. Police always bring a body to hospital.The new doctors do not know
that the body is in custody of police the whole time.No permission of relatives
or attendants are required to do a postmortem.So if the relatives are refusing
you to perform the postmortem or not letting you touch the body then ask the
police to make that happen otherwise u will not perform the postmortem and will
write on their documents that police was unable to control the crowed and was
unable to keep the relatives outside deadhouse.Its not ur headache.
2. Always make sure that documents of police are complete.Never start a
postmortem with incomplete papers.Postmortem is done after u received FIR from
police.u read that report and then perform the postmortem accordingly. Never do
it without FIR as ur new and u don't know alk the documents . If police insist
then ask them to mark the documents from MS and if MS allowed it in written
then do Postmortem without FIR. Usually MS will never allow it.
3. The reason for FIR before postmortem is that u need to know what to
look for.Its different for every circumstance, strangulation ,drowning etc. and
if u perform the postmortem first then police will write FIR according to ur
findings and can pin it on anyone.
4. Only police and you are in command of chain in doing a postmortem.U
will recieve the papers from police, perform the postmortem, collect samples
and then return the body to police and u will handover the samples to police
and postmortem report to police.There is no other person involved by law.Not
dispensar, dead house keeper or anyone else.This is important to know because
in or setup usually it is performed by sweepers etc or samples are taken by
dispensars.But in case of a problem you will not b able to blame anyone else.I
tried to suggest the PFSA to include atleast dispensar in chain of custody.they
said they will think about it.
5. There is no such term as "superficial postmortem". RTAs are
usually are requested to do a postmortem without opening body cavities.The
thing you do not know is that police has the authority to declare death as
accidental.They only bring u the body if they have suspicion about the cause of
death.so never agreed to superficial examination.A body may be thrown in front
of a truck after poisoning or it may b already dead before it was hit by a car
etc.u cannot know unless u sent the sample.U will not b able to defend ur
decision in court.
6. Never trust police words .If they say that u can do postmortem without
papers, never trust them.If anything police is asking is out of normal then ask
them to allow it from MS in written.Our police is expert in lying and then
blame you for it.
7. Police encounters or police torture cases are board cases.Its not for
you to perform
I write this as guidance to new doctors.
Seniirs adopts other methods. Try to stick to these in start.
Slowly u can manage things on ur own.
Postmortems
(Part 2. Sample taking and Sending to
PFSA).
*In case u dont
know ,the part 1 of postmortem and MLC discussion is on Doctors Republic group*
*In case U are using facebook mobile app then it is in the pinned post.usually
hidden at top*
Fortunately for this part i do not have to write long essay 
. I have my notes from when i took the
training at PFSA and original guidelines of PFSA(Now new departments in PFSA)
.I am sharing those here Plus the topics PFSA taught us to give u overview of
its departments. Only one point to add.
. I have my notes from when i took the
training at PFSA and original guidelines of PFSA(Now new departments in PFSA)
.I am sharing those here Plus the topics PFSA taught us to give u overview of
its departments. Only one point to add.
*Increased human chorionic gonadotropin levels (HCG) can be detected
in femoral blood, bile, and vitreous humor collected during autopsy of pregnant
women*
PICTURES at the end after part 3.
Postmortems
(Part 3 : Things You should know to save
Your neck)
- Never do
postmortem in open.Its disrespectful to dead and someone will take a
picture and its against law.Always use deadhouse
2. Never admit that you have not performed the postmortem with your own
hand. Doesn't matter if sweeper did it for you but in law its the duty of
doctor.
3. Always collect samples and put them in right solutions in front of you
and seal them under your supervision.Dispensars intentionally mix sample.Like
sending toxicology samples in formaline will ruin it (see my previous post for
correct sampling).This is tempering with evidence and is punishable by law.You
may face serious consequences.
4. Always hand over the body to police after u completed the postmortem.
5. Do not let the dispensar keep the sample overnight without handing it
over to police. Seal the samples and hand it to police as soon as possible and
get his thumb on PMR and mention what u handed over to him there. You can fill
the rest of report later .But do not keep the samples.They are ur
responsibility unless u hand it to police
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