Introduction
Death is first a medical concern and secondly a legal issue in a science requiring complex investigative processes, accurate data collection, communication, documentation, and objective assessments. Traditional death scene investigators have extensive expertise in law enforcement but without sufficient medical training to accurately assess, interpret and correlate various elements involving the medical cause of death. Medico legal advances indicate a need for additional requirements regarding biomedical and psychosocial education in the medical investigation of death. Recent advances in the medical and legal sciences require an understanding of the disease mechanisms and biomechanical factors associated with death for the benefit of public health and the administration of justice. Thus, a new generation of medical investigators, blending biomedical training with the investigation of death, indicates a new trend in the 21st century forensic sciences. Forensic nurse examiners (FNE) have proven to provide these essential requirements and necessary skills to assist police in this task.
