The Forensic Nurse

The Georgia Death Investigation Act (O.C.G.A. 45-16-20) requires that the coroner or county medical examiner of the county where the body is found or the death occurs be notified and that a medical examiner’s inquiry be made in all deaths that occur in this state that meet the following criteria:

1. As a result of violence;
2. By suicide or casualty;
3. Suddenly when in apparent good health;
4. When unattended by a physician; no person shall be deemed to have died unattended when the death occurred while the person was a patient of a hospice licensed under Article 9 of Chapter 7 of Title 31 of the Georgia Code.
5. In any suspicious or unusual manner, with particular attention to those persons 16 years of age and under;
6. After birth but before seven years of age if the death is unexpected or unexplained;
7. As a result of an execution carried out pursuant to the imposition of the death penalty under Article 2 of Chapter 10 of Title 17;
8. When an inmate of a state hospital or a state, county, or city penal institution; or

9. After having been admitted to a hospital in an unconscious state and without regaining consciousness within 24 hours of admission.

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 30th, 2008 at 2:57 pm and is filed under Forensic Nurse Training, Laws. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.