Office of Chief Medical Examiner of the City of New York
The Office of Chief Medical Examiner of the City of New York (OCME) is a department within the city government that investigates cases of persons who die within New York City from criminal violence; by casualty or by suicide; suddenly, when in apparent good health; when unattended by a physician; in a correctional facility; or in any suspicious or unusual manner. The OCME also investigates when an application is made pursuant to law for a permit to cremate the body of a deceased person.
History
The office was established on January 1, 1918, pursuant to a 1915 act of the New York State Legislature that abolished the office of the Coroner of New York City. The Chief Medical Examiner is appointed by the mayor. Dr. Patrick J. Riordan was the last corner and the first acting medical examiner from January 1, 1918 to February 1, 1918 when Dr. Charles Norris was appointed by the mayor as the first official Chief Medical Examiner of New York City.[1]
The OCME provides the citizens of New York City essential services directly by identifying the manner and cause of death in specified cases, as well as providing state-of-the-art forensic DNA analysis through the OCME Forensic Biology Laboratory.
These services include on-site investigation into manner and cause of death; identification of remains; performing autopsies; performing DNA testing related to identification of remains; examination of homicide, sexual assault, and other crime evidence collected by the Police Department for DNA extraction and typing; and responding to disasters that involve fatalities as part of a multidisciplinary team of city agencies.
Chief Medical Examiner
- Patrick D. Riordan, M.D. 1918. He served as the last Coroner of New York City and was appointed as the acting Chief Medical Examiner (CME), where he served one month starting on January 1, 1918. The OCME offices were on the second floor of Bellevue Hospital.
- Charles Norris, M.D. (1867-1935) 1918 to 1935.
- Thomas Gonzales, M.D. 1935 to 1954.
- Milton Helpern, M.D. (1902-1977) 1954 to 1974.[2]
- Dominick DiMaio, M.D. 1974 to 1978.
- Michael Baden, M.D. 1978 to 1979.
- Elliot M. Gross, M.D. 1979 to 1989.
- Charles Sidney Hirsch, M.D. (born 1937) 1989 to 2013.[3]
- Barbara Sampson, M.D. 2013-Present (appointed as acting in 2013 and as permanent in 2014)
Unified Victim Identification System
In the aftermath of the numerous deaths resulting from the September 11 attacks on New York City and the crash of American Airlines Flight 587, the OCME developed the Unified Victim Identification System (UVIS). An Internet-enabled database system, it is intended to handle critical fatality management functions in the case of a major disaster with numerous deaths. It also has functionality to enable the OCME to respond to an influenza pandemic.[4]
Notes
- ↑ Evans, Colin. Blood on the Table; The Greatest Cases of New York City's Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, New York: The Berkley Publishing Group, 2008.
- ↑ "Milton Helpern, Ex-Chief Medical Examiner, 75, Dies. With New York Office for 42 Years Called a Sherlock Holmes". New York Times. April 23, 1977.
- ↑ Dan Barry (February 5, 2013). "City’s Chief Medical Examiner Since ’89 Quietly Retires". New York Times.
- ↑ City of New York Office of Chief Medical Examiner Pandemic Influenza Surge Plan To Manage In-Hospital Deaths Planning Tool
External links
- NYC Office of Chief Medical Examiner
- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Pandemic Influenza Plan
Coordinates: 40°44′29″N 73°58′30″W / 40.74139°N 73.97500°W