DVI missions in the Carribean - the practical aspects of disaster victim identification

Human trafficking of young men from Africa to Europe is a crime with often devastating consequences. The African continent loses members of the younger generation and many die during the attempt to reach their destinations. The identification of these victims is often difficult, however the structured and by now well-established procedures utilizing standard disaster victim identification protocols provide a reliable and functional approach. The logistics involved are straightforward, and one of the many functions of the team leader is to monitor and control the flow of cases through the system. The importance of ante mortem data for the purposes of identification is clear-no ante mortem data means no identification. Two different missions conducted in the Caribbean are described to illustrate particular difficulties that may occur.Calle Winsko

The progression from disaster victim identification (DVI) to disaster victim management (DVM): a necessary evolution

Calle Winskog, Michael Tsokos, Roger W. Byar

Wischnewski spots and hypothermia: sensitive, specific, or serendipitous?

Fiona Bright, Calle Winskog, Roger W. Byar

An audit of the toxicology findings in 555 medico-legal autopsies finds manner of death changed in 5 cases

An audit of toxicological analysis in Coronial autopsies performed at Forensic Science South Australia was conducted on the cases of three pathologists. Toxicological analysis had been performed in 555 (68 %) from a total of 815 autopsies. It was found that the proffered manner of death was changed from the provisional report (provided immediately after the post-mortem examination) in five cases (just under 1 %) as a consequence of the toxicological findings. This is a limited study as it is retrospective, not all cases had toxicological analysis and the findings are constrained by the range of the substances that could be detected. Nonetheless, the audit supports the application of toxicological analysis in medico-legal death investigation and suggests that an inclusive policy should be adopted.Neil E. I. Langlois, John D. Gilbert, Karen J. Heath, Calle Winskog, Chris Kostaki