Response and Understanding a Death Scene

This course is approved for 8 hours of continuing education credits by Missouri POST.

Who Should Take This Course

• Law Enforcement Patrol Officers/ Supervisors
• Detectives and Investigators
• Medicolegal Death Investigators
• Coroners
• Interested Students

In nearly all instances, a law enforcement patrol officer will be the first enforcement unit on the scene of a death. In many jurisdictions, these same patrol officers are tasked with the responsibility of investigating these deaths, either through completion or until they recognize the need for more advanced assistance – if that assistance is even available.

This course is specifically designed with the patrol officer, patrol supervisor, and investigator in mind. The participant will be led through the process of understanding a death scene from the moment they get assigned the call through the scene investigation process.

The top areas of learning objectives covered are:

• Identify Cause, Manner, and Mechanism of death
• Identify who is responsible for determining the cause of death
• Identify Procedures for initial response to call
• Identify arrival procedures
• Identify initial scene assessment
• Identify the critical element of scene photography
• Identify the unique issues surrounding suicide deaths
• Identify Child death scene and the unique circumstances to them
• Identify the need for and how to, ensure proper scene cooperation
• Identify the different types of scene searches and why they are important
• Identify who to create proper scene sketches
• Identify proper evidence collection
• Identify different types of packaging material
• Identify how to conduct a complete body exam
• Identify the requirements of why and how to collect body fluids
• Identify wound determination and identification
• Identify lividly and rigor mortis as a time of death indicators

This is an online video training and is designed to be interactive with students by random quizzes and a final exam. Student login and time are tracked per student to verify the time spent in the course if needed.   Testing cannot be done until the videos are watched.  Many of the videos have a unique symbol or picture that will appear prominently in the video and is part of the test questions, this will ensure the video has been watched. Certificates will only be available for print after the successful completion of the course material.

Each certificate will indicate that it was an online training and will note the approval control number and the CLEE hours given.