Coroners and Medical Examiners
We are grateful for the support from our coroners and medical examiners who help honor the wishes of our donors.
As an organization, LifeShare supports the position of the National Association of Medical Examiners (NAME) regarding the recovery of tissues and organs for transplantation. It reads, “Donation can be accomplished in virtually all cases without detriment to evidence collection, postmortem examination, determination of cause and manner of death, or the conduction of criminal or civil legal proceedings. Although our primary function is to investigate death, enabling transplantation is one of the few opportunities we have to directly save and improve lives.”
LifeShare is available to respond to the forensic needs of Coroners and Medical Examiners, including:
- Collection of specimens
- Chain of custody
- Documentation of injury and anatomic anomalies
Cardiac Pathologist Services – When the heart is recovered for heart valve recovery, the heart can be examined by a pathologist who can provide the following services:
- A complete cardiac pathology report including heart weights, final diagnoses, gross examination, microscopic report, and photomicrographs
- Remaining heart tissue can be returned to the forensic pathologist upon request
