The Medical Examiner/Coroner’s Guide For Contaminated Deceased Body Management Prepared by

In the past few years, a number of publications and other resources have appeared concerning the management of mass fatality incidents. Some are geared toward the general management of incidents while others cover more specific topics such as decontamination procedures. Still others cover selected agents including chemical, biological, or radiological ones. Few publications have been written specifically for medical examiners and coroners. The Medical Examiner and Coroner’s Guide for Contaminated Deceased Body Management is written specifically for the medical examiner or coroner who will be in charge of investigations of fatalities that result from terrorism or other events that result in contaminated remains. In some such cases, agents may be used that will require mitigation of environmental hazards and decontamination of human bodies. To that end, this Guide provides information and suggestions that may be useful in understanding the principles involved in decontamination procedures, recognizing that it may not be the medical examiner or coroner staff who actually conducts decontamination procedures. The suggestions in this guide may differ slightly from those in other publications