Coroner releases death statistics

I'm always asked what exactly does the coroner's office do?

The coroner's office is a full investigative agency that focuses on medico-legal investigation to establish causation and manner of death. We have a working relationship with many agencies including municipal and state police. The coroner's office is deemed with the legal responsibility and more importantly has the ethical responsibility to represent the deceased, surviving family members and the citizens at large with establishing causation and manner of death.

The next question asked is how do we do that?

The coroner's office focuses on three main techniques. Victimology, which by definition is the collection and assessment of all significant information as it relates to the decedent and his or hers lifestyle. In other words, who was the decedent and what was going on in their life recently? Examples of this would be employment, education, friends, associates, habits, hobbies, marital status, sexuality, criminal record, alcohol and/or drug abuse, etc. The second focus is Psychological Autopsy - meaning, has the decedent ever been institutionalized, and/or has the decedent ever had suicidal ideology or an actual attempt of committing suicide? Is there a history of domestic or sexual abuse in the residence, etc.?

The third focus is an Anatomical Autopsy. Our office utilizes a forensic pathologist for our autopsies. Autopsies are performed within a hospital forensic lab environment. This makes it challenging because there are no local facilities capable of performing such examinations. I'm frequently asked does everyone need an autopsy? The answer is no, an autopsy is not performed on everyone who dies. Autopsy determination is at the discretion of the coroner's office. Simply put, if a reasonable cause of death cannot be determined, an autopsy should be performed. My personal practice is any infant, child, young adult, or individual under the age of 55 requires an autopsy.

Certainly any decedent who is, or is potentially the victim of any crime requires an autopsy. Some may ask why is it important to perform an autopsy on a 50-year-old that appears to have dropped dead from a heart attack? My immediate response is many who are presumed to have dropped dead from a heart attack actually have died from other medical conditions such as cardiomyopathy or a pulmonary embolism.

Causes of premature death in some cases can run in families with preventable underlying conditions. With early identification, medical diagnostic exams and therapeutic interventions premature death can be reduced.

So how many deaths does the coroner's office handle per year in Bradford County? I like to break it down over a three-year period. Starting in 2009 we handled 344 cases. In 2010 there were 386 cases, and in 2011 there were 383 cases handled by this office. The majority of these cases were medical in nature.

Suicides

Sadly, in 2009 suicides reached an all-time high with 17, followed by 10 in 2010 and twelve in 2011. We had one already this year. People ask me why I think suicides are happening in Bradford County. I'm quick to inform them I am not an expert in mental health by any means. However, I do think there are some commonly known factors. Intimidation, embarrassment, feeling of hopelessness, and not knowing where to turn are some of the common fear factors. I would like to remind people you are not alone when you experience suicidal ideology. The key is to talk, reach out for help. There are resources available and when all else fails go to an emergency room for assistance. Again, I stress the key is to talk to someone and seek help. There are mental health professionals within Bradford County to help you.

Drugs/alcohol

Frequently I am asked how many deaths involve drugs and/or alcohol? In 2009 there were 18 drug and/or alcohol related deaths, followed by 26 in 2010 and 27 in 2011. I have concerns over the growing number of drug related deaths in the county. There is undoubtedly an increase in drug related deaths. In 2009 there were nine drug related deaths, 10 in 2010, and in 2011 there were 14. This year we have already had four overdoses. I have said this before

in print and I will say it again now. Prescription drug abuse remains one of the leading causes of drug death. Oxycodone has been and remains a major cause of prescription drug deaths. Heroin is an increasing illicit drug problem leading to drug death. Lastly, bath salts were present at five drug death scenes in 2011. One of the five was a pure bath salt overdose.

Accidental deaths

How many accidental deaths are there per year in Bradford County? In 2010 we had an all-time high with 74 accidental deaths. There was a reduction in 2011 with 41 accidental deaths. Not all of these accidental deaths were drug and/or alcohol related.

The natural next question is how many deaths involved children? Our office defines child death as any death involving a person under the age of 21. There is a common misconception that alcohol and/or drug death commonly involves a young adult. There is also a common misconception that the majority of suicides involve young adults. The truth of the matter is that the majority of these cases involve the ages of 30-50.

Please allow me state that the loss of one child is one too many. The following data on child death only includes those cases that involved suicide and motor vehicle accidents. This data does not reflect stillbirth and infant death. With this being said, in 2009 there were four deaths involving individuals under the age of 21, one crash and three suicides. In 2010 there were five deaths involving individuals under the age of 21, four crashes and one drug death.

Lastly, in 2011 there were four deaths involving individuals under the age of 21, two crashes, one suicide and one justifiable homicide by law enforcement. So far this year we have had one individual under the age of 21 and this was a drug related death.

I think this speaks highly of the children in Bradford County. It is clearly the ages between 30 and 50 that are dying from crashes, suicides and drug related deaths. So why is this? My hat is off to the kids, the school systems in the county, and several Bradford County and State agencies most of which are understaffed and operate on restricted budgets. I think this shows us that with the right foundation, education, prevention and intervention programs we can truly make a difference in many of our youth.

In summary, we all live and we will all die. It's how the last chapter of our life reads that tells the story. Drug related deaths are very much preventable; contrast to this is not every fatal accident is the result of speed or lack of seatbelt. However, the true lesson to be learned is that with poor choices come consequences. Periodically these consequences are fatal. Our office is neither the judge nor jury, simply an advocate for the deceased and surviving family members. Our office is located at 129 Canton St., Troy, Pa. Our staff includes me, Thomas M. Carman, coroner; James Bowen, chief deputy coroner; and Jay Cummings, deputy coroner.

This article was submitted by Thomas M. Carman.