title: Emergency medicine techniques and the forensic autopsy.
abstract: Emergency medicine measures often have to be carried out under suboptimal conditions in emergency situations and require invasive patient treatment. In the case of a fatal outcome these measures have to be evaluated at autopsy, regarding indications, correct implementation and possible complications. As well, alongside the more familiar procedures--such as endotracheal intubation, insertion of chest drains, external cardiac massage and cannulation of central and peripheral veins--there are alternative techniques being increasingly applied, that include new tools for the management of hemorrhagic shock, drug delivery and alternative airway management devices. On the one hand, all of these measures are essential for the survival and appropriate treatment of the injured and/or sick patient, but on the other hand they can damage the patient and thus contain a significant risk of both medical and forensic relevance for the patient and the physician. In the following review we provide an overview of established, new and alternative techniques for emergency airway management, administration of drugs and management of hemorrhagic shock. The aim is to facilitate the understanding and autopsy evaluation of current emergency medicine techniques.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences, Charité - University Medicine Berlin, Turmstr. 21, Building N, 10559, Berlin, Germany. claas.buschmann@charite.de
authors.forename: Claas
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Buschmann
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Schulz
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tsokos
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kleber
mesh_terms: D058109:Airway Management / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000401:mortality; D001344:Autopsy; D016887:Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000401:mortality; D002423:Cause of Death; D019299:Decompression, Surgical / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000401:mortality; D004358:Drug Therapy / Q000401:mortality; D064420:Drug-Related Side Effects and Adverse Reactions; D004635:Emergency Medicine / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D004867:Equipment Design; D006801:Humans; D011180:Postmortem Changes; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012771:Shock, Hemorrhagic / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy