Abstract:
Whilst many identification methods have been widely described and discussed in the literature, and considered in disaster and humanitarian contexts, there has been limited reporting and evaluation of the identification methods used in domestic medico-legal death investigation contexts. The aim of this study was to evaluate the identification methods utilised at the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine (VIFM), which forms part of a coronial medico-legal death investigation system. The method of identification and time taken to complete the identification were reviewed for all cases admitted to the VIFM over a five-year period from 1 July 2015 to 30 June 2020. The majority, 91%, of individuals admitted to the VIFM were visually identified. The remaining 9% of cases required identification by primary methods (i.e. fingerprints, DNA or dental) or, when those methods were not possible, by secondary methods (i.e. circumstantial). Visual identifications were the timeliest, taking an average of 1.5 days, whilst primary identification methods required an average of 5 days to complete. The triaging of identification methods, dependent on the case context, body preservation, availability of ante-mortem data, legal requirements and admissibility of the method, are determined by identification coordinators within the Human Identification Service (HIS) to ensure the most appropriate and timely method is employed. This review of human identification methods provides the foundation for future analyses to compare workflow processes and improve identification methods utilised in domestic medico-legal contexts.
摘要:
虽然文献中已经广泛描述和讨论了许多识别方法,并在灾难和人道主义背景下考虑,国内医学-法律死亡调查中使用的鉴定方法的报告和评估有限.这项研究的目的是评估维多利亚州法医学研究所(VIFM)使用的识别方法,这是加冕医学-法律死亡调查系统的一部分。在2015年7月1日至2020年6月30日的五年期间,对VIFM收治的所有病例的鉴定方法和完成鉴定所需的时间进行了审查。大多数,91%,在视觉上识别了进入VIFM的个体。其余9%的病例需要通过主要方法(即指纹,DNA或牙科)或,当这些方法不可能的时候,通过次要方法(即间接)。视觉识别是最及时的,平均1.5天,而初级鉴定方法平均需要5天才能完成。鉴定方法的分类,取决于案例上下文,身体保存,验尸前数据的可用性,该方法的法律要求和可采性,由人类身份识别服务(HIS)内的身份识别协调员确定,以确保采用最合适和及时的方法。对人类识别方法的回顾为未来分析提供了基础,以比较工作流程并改进在国内医学法律环境中使用的识别方法。