title: The medical examiner in war.
abstract: Loss of human life is one of the tragic costs of war. While combat deaths are expected, non-combat deaths during a military operation often come as a surprise to military planners and the public. During operation Desert Storm, all United States deaths related to the Gulf War were classified according to circumstances as either hostile or non-hostile. We reviewed all deaths classified as non-hostile during Operation Desert Storm, from January 16, 1991 through April 17, 1991. These deaths were compared with the death recorded for all Armed Forces personnel during a recent year (fiscal year 1989) in which there was no hostile activity. The emphasis is on cause and manner of death. Representative cases are briefly discussed.
authors.affiliation: Office of the Armed Forces Medical Examiner, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, Washington DC, USA.
authors.forename: K B
authors.initials: KB
authors.lastname: Reiber
authors.forename: A C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Burns
authors.forename: D W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Oxley
authors.forename: W T
authors.initials: WT
authors.lastname: Gormley
mesh_terms: D000059:Accidents / Q000401:mortality; D000062:Accidents, Occupational / Q000401:mortality*; D000328:Adult; D002423:Cause of Death; D005260:Female; D006708:Homicide / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008877:Middle East; D008889:Military Personnel / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013405:Suicide / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014481:United States; D014857:Warfare