This will be the first of a few articles dealing with the more frequently asked questions of the employees of the Ada County Coroners office. In this months post, we will be dealing with one of the most frequently asked questions. We will then revisit this topic from month to month on a separate page dedicated to frequently asked questions.

 

 

This might not be the most frequently asked question but I do believe that it might hold the most weight. First of all, this question brings up an issue that needs to be addressed. For the most part, the average American is really quite psychologically distanced from death. There was a time in America where death was much closer to everyday life. With the advancements in medicine, technology and generally better living conditions overall, the average American’s life span has increased. Americans (in general) are dying after long lives and when death does come, it is generally expected. Along with these changes in conditions, Americans are also much more likely to confront death through mediums such as television, film or literature which have the potential to be highly sensationalized. The combination of the fictionalized aspects of death through media and a general lack of real experience with death in everyday life has the possibility to skew the average persons idea on what dealing with death can be like on a daily basis.

 

Part of asking how someone can do what someone does at the Ada County Coroners office is tainted with the idea that the job is, on a daily basis, for lack of better words, gross or unsightly. One of the other frequently asked questions is: What is the grossest thing you have ever seen. This, I believe, is one of the hardest questions to answer and also the one that might explain best how we can do what we do for a living. As medico-legal death investigators it is our duty to investigate specific deaths occurring in Ada County. Part of that duty is to do this without bias and to be completely objective. Some outcomes or results of a death can be unsightly or off-putting. This is a basic fact. It is, however, these specifics that lead an investigation to a cause and manner of the death. By looking at these distasteful details, an investigator can gather the information needed to determine findings. The same happens while a body is being forensically autopsied. While an autopsy is an incredibly invasive procedure to the human body, it is also the best scientific method we have to determine manner and cause of death if no such information exists. It is important to remember that death really has no ability to be anything but the cessation of life. It is the physical after effects that surround death that are the most troubling to most people. To a medico-legal investigator, these after effects are what lead us to answers. These answers help the community continue to live in safety and can offer real assistance to those who are affected by the death.

 

So, going back to answering the first question one must understand that the unsightly part of the job is accepted and understood as part of what we need to do to be effective. So what then is the drive or motivation to work at the Ada County Coroners office? It seems to come down to having a desire to help people and the community in a way that not many others could. An employee of the Ada County Coroners office can do what they do for a living because they are dedicated to finding answers to what sometimes can be very difficult questions. A deputy can perform their duties as medico-legal death investigators because they have the training and education necessary to competently produce valid findings in every case.