HP - yes, you're correct. It does vary state to state/laws/all that.
A lot of people will say they want to work in a funeral home, and embalming the dead isn't exactly my idea of fun, and then tending to them (for an open casket) to be made to look well again (depending on what damages they may be "fixing" for a viewing) would also not be fun, but in the MEs office, we got what we called "fresh." (the deceased). Not cleaned up and ready for the funeral home, not prepped and veins colored for med school. Just "fresh" off whatever killed them. (along with all the odors and terrible things that came with it)
It was extremely morbid, whether by accidents, suicides, murders...they were "fresh," and we were the first to get them. Where I worked, we started early...as soon as the ME showed up (around 7-8am or so). We stopped at 2pm. Anyone that came in after 2pm, was done the next morning. Most people died at night. From 2pm on, paperwork has to be done on the victims, or some days the ME had to be in court.
A coroner - totally different thing. Either a coroner system is used for medicolegal death investigation, or a medical examiner system is used, and some use a mix of both. This is where various laws come into play. Coroner and Medical Examiner usually get mixed up and confused by most people (which is easy to have happen - I never knew the difference myself prior).
"Coroner" and "ME" can vary in a huge way, even as far as their qualifications and duties. Due to variances in jurisdictions, the definitions between the two vary from place to place. But, the ME I worked with was a trained physician, as a Forensic Pathologist (He had been to med school, and residency is very long (like 5-6 years). Friend of mine is a heart surgeon and he went through a long rez like that, so being a Forensic Path is an arduous process to get through all that schooling and training.
Sometimes though, an ME can be a physician, and not exactly a FP). Every state varies. Some states will have an ME that sets laws for each county, and only requires the ME to be a doc. (could be a GP, Ob/GYN, etc)
A coroner can be an elected official, with no training at all. They just have to put down what they may think was the cause of death. (prob getting most of their info/help from the police investigating). The doc I worked with got really offended if he was ever referred to as a coroner. (because of the extensive training, med school, rez...whereas a coroner could be the local mailman that got elected). So that was a no-no - for anyone to call him that (but see, most people just didn't know the difference, and meant no harm to him). He was quirky...great at his craft, but just one of those guys....
It's all interesting...again, I was drawn into it, even Crime Scene stuff, then went full-blown into thinking I could be a Forensic Pathologist, but after the morgue - noooo thanks.
And, that smell of death. Wow. I mean, we were pretty suited up, as in layers and layers, hair nets, everything...my hair was long/is long, and I'd put it up, didn't matter...*nothing* got that death smell off of me. Hair is porous and it just soaked up that aroma. You could bleach that place 100 times over, and walk in...and smell bleach and death. My ex-husband (wasn't my ex at the time, lol), was in law school and was like....omg, that smell...go take like 4 showers. (trust me, I had to). It's one of those things you (again) don't really think about. That may have been one of the worst things about it all. The combination of it all. The visual, the names, the smells....
Also, once someone is opened up...and the organs are exposed, its an entirely different smell, I can't even describe it. Horrible. Car wrecks...where the bowels or anything were burst open, or the spine "bent" etc...pooled blood, decomps with tons of oils floating in their ab cavity, the maggots...all of it, the smells were horrible.
I asked the doctor before we went into that "room" where decomps were done, what to do. Like...what to do about the smell (as silly as that sounds) and he said "just make sure you breathe, lol, and I said, how did you get over it..and he said "you don't."
It's true. The smell is like no other, and the insides of our bodies, just stink.
Sooo, I am sure that is enough morbid news on autopsies. (probably more than enough for most of you here)
