Evidence of intent includes an explicit expression, such as a suicide note or verbal threat, previous attempts, or an act constituting implicit intent. Suicide is defined for medical examiner death certification purposes as a death from self-inflicted injury with evidence of intent to die. Classification of traffic related deaths as an "accident" does not preclude the prosecution as a vehicular homicide by legal authorities.Ĭomplication of Therapy Deaths are accidental deaths that occur during or due to complications that occur during medical, surgical, therapeutic, or diagnostic procedures. Accidents involving motor vehicles on private property (such as driveways) are not included in this category and are classified non-traffic vehicular deaths. A traffic death is defined as an unintentional death of a driver, passenger, or pedestrian involving a motor vehicle on public roadways. Traffic Deaths are a subset of accidental deaths, but deaths resulting from traffic accidents are reported separately from other accidental deaths for statistical purposes. Deaths related to illicit drug or excessive medication use, in the absence of specifically supporting the conclusion of the manner of death being homicide or suicide, are classified as accident. On the job injury related deaths are referred to as industrial deaths and are classified as accidents. Traffic related fatalities (involving vehicles used for transportation on any public roadway) are classified as accidents. If significant risk factors were present, such as an unsafe sleep environment, including co-sleeping or inappropriate bedding, then the cause of death would fall out of the definition of SUID and the manner would be classified as "undetermined."Īccident is defined for medical examiner death certification purposes as an unnatural death resulting from an inadvertent chance happening. The investigation includes a complete autopsy, examination of the death scene, and clinical history. It is the sudden death of an infant under one year of age which remains unexplained after a thorough and complete investigation. Sudden Unexplained Infant Death (SUID), formerly known as sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), is a subset of natural death. If natural death is hastened by injury (such as a fall or drowning in a bathtub), the manner of death is not considered natural. Natural is defined as death caused solely by disease or natural process. The manner of death is determined by the medical examiner. Other certifiers must use natural or refer the death to the medical examiner. Only medical examiner's and coroners may use all of the manners of death. The classifications are natural, accident, suicide, homicide, undetermined, and pending. Manner of Death is the way to categorize death as required by the Washington State Department of Health. The reason why an accident occurred, a person took their own life, or why one person killed another person are not investigated by the medical examiner for the purpose of death certification. Specific cause of death information is recorded on the death certificate and is entered into the Vital Statistics System of the State of Washington. It lists the disease(s) or injuries that caused death. Cause of Death is a term used to indicate the medical cause of death.
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