Coroner Technician

Duties:

EXAMPLES OF ESSENTIAL DUTIES

• Recover and transport bodies to a Coroner's facility throughout the County; pick up specimens and/or records from hospitals and nursing homes.
• Assist in gathering and protecting physical, scientific, and pathological evidence (e.g., clothing, weapons, drugs, and bodily fluids) from the scene of death; photograph scenes of death and autopsy procedures.
• Assist Forensic Pathologists in performing autopsies; set up equipment, instruments and solutions; open and close bodies, obtain blood and other fluid samples, excise and weigh organs and record figures; accurately label and store specimens; prepare tissue specimens; and prepare all specimens for transportation to toxicology and histopathology laboratories.
• Maintain vehicles, facilities and all instruments/equipment in a clean, orderly, and sanitary condition.
• Photograph deceased persons at the scene of death and autopsy using digital cameras.
• Receive, log, and process bodies including weighing, undressing, fingerprinting, and x-raying as they arrive at a Coroner facility.
• Inventory personal property of the deceased; receive reports of death within established guidelines, and determine whether a case falls within the Coroner's jurisdiction.
• Dispatch Deputy Coroners and Coroner Technicians, and maintain radio and telephone contact with them while they are in the field; receive telephone inquiries and documents any information received over the telephone from families, law enforcement, mortuary staff, doctors, lawyers, and medical and legal personnel.
• Release deceased persons to mortuary or authorized persons upon completion of the Coroner's investigation.
• Prepare and maintain routine investigative files, facility forms, and statistical and daily activity reports.
• Under direction, may tactfully provide information to next of kin.
• May serve as a witness in criminal or civil courts on Coroner's cases.

Requirements:

Education:

• Possession of a high school diploma or equivalent (e.g., GED).

Experience:

• None required.

Knowledge of:

• Computers and other office equipment; digital cameras; inventory principles and fingerprinting techniques; basic rules of evidence; basic anatomy; medical terminology; fingerprinting, photography, and x-raying.

Ability to:

• Learn procedures for gathering information; understand basic rules of evidence; understand basic anatomy and medical terminology; fingerprint photograph, and x-ray; learn the techniques, procedures, equipment, and instruments used in assisting with autopsies; read and interpret government and health and safety codes; deal effectively with distraught persons; prepare clear and concise reports and forms; read a Thomas Brothers map; follow written and oral directions.

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