Autopsy - Psychology Paper

The proper performance of an autopsy is crucial to discovering the cause of death in the deceased individual who has died from an unexplained death. If an autopsy is inadequately executed then the explanation of the unknown death that is being investigated will never be revealed.

To begin with, to properly start an autopsy you must begin by finding out the basic essential information of the deceased individual and by completing the external examination of the body. This can found by placing the body on a medical examination table and then determining the body's height, weight, and approximate age. You need to additionally examine the body for the presence of specific details like scars, tattoos or even birthmarks. The next step in the examination is to take the body's fingerprints for cross-referencing that will take place later in the autopsy.

Next, examine the clothing and the skin of the body for any unusual marks or clues. These include cuts, scratches, bullet wounds, abnormal powders or glass, flecks of blood, or anything else that may be noteworthy that could potentially bring about further clues to the cause of death. The next step is to survey the genital area for signs of rape, which could be very important because that could essentially be the cause of death in the end. After you are done with that, the next step is to take x-rays to uncover any broken bones or medical devices, such as pacemakers. This could be very important to determine if the cause of death was from trauma to various parts of the body that could have been from accident or even violence. It is critical to check for medical devices, especially pacemakers because these are devices that are used to provide normal heartbeat in people who have heart conditions. This could reveal that the cause of death was from some type of heart failure, heart attack, or even cardiac arrest. The next step is very important and it is vital to pay attention to the fingernails of the deceased. This is because if it was a murder victim who tried to fight back they may have blood, skin, or hair from their killer lodged underneath. If there are any noticeable wounds, unusual marks, facial features or tattoos, you must take close-up photos of any of them.

Before the internal examination of the autopsy takes place, it is imperative to extract a blood sample from the body and to perform a toxicology test to determine the existence of alcohol, drugs or poisons. This could determine whether the individual had died from natural causes or if there were other influences acting on the cause of death. The main clues to the cause of death are usually discovered during the internal examination which first begins by making a large incision in the shape of a "Y" in the body's chest. After the incision has been completed, the next act of examining the body is to spread open the skin that has been cut and check the chest area for broken ribs. Even